LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Luke Donald is many things — father and husband, friend of Michael Jordan, winemaker, world class golfer.
Add another — salesman.
The former world No. 1 teed up his best pitches on behalf of Conway Farms, a walking-only club 30 miles north of Chicago that is 210 acres of nothing but golf.
SCHEDULE: This week in golf, at a glance
Some holes on the 22-year-old Tom Fazio design run through prairie land, and others run through trees. This week it plays host for the first time to the BMW Championship, the third leg of the FedExCup playoffs, in large part because of Donald, a member here for more than 10 years who first played the track as a collegiate golfer for Northwestern.
"I certainly talked with the Tour leading up to this event, and they wanted their opinions on some courses around here, and I tried to steer them towards this course," Donald said Tuesday after a long session on the practice range. "Obviously selfishly because I know it very well, and I think it's a good place to have a tournament.
" … I have a little bit of advantage, having played this course many times, but hopefully that advantage will be more on the greens. That's what I'll need to do this week is be successful on the greens."
Donald, who lives 20 minutes away and is a semi-host this week, held the course record here with a 61 before, he jokes, they Luke-proofed it by adding length the past few years with his opinion on the course changes weighed. He said the course isn't overly long, should dish up quite a few birdies and has a few risk-reward holes like the drivable par-4 15th and the finisher, a 570-yard par-5 that is guarded by a creek that runs in front of the green. A handful of players have already hit up Donald for playing advice.
"It's very hard to describe in detail to someone what it's like," he said. "You've got to go out there and play it."
While Donald has a pretty good hold of what to expect from the course, he's not as confident with his own expectations. Just two years ago he became the first player to win the money list on the PGA Tour and the European Tour, ascending to No. 1 in the world and winning player of the year honors on both sides of the Atlantic. This year, however, he has more missed cuts (five) than top-10s (four) and has slipped to No. 13 in the world. And he's No. 54 in the FedExCup standings after finishing the playoffs ninth, third and third the past three seasons.
"It's been very hard this year," Donald said. "It's been frustrating at times, and I've had to make some tough decisions in terms of changing swing coaches. But I feel pretty good about where things are headed, and I'm excited about the future. This year I still have time to rescue it. I'm going to have to do that this week, and that's the beauty of the FedExCup. It takes one good week to kind of rescue a year."
The toughest decision he made – right up there with parting ways with his older brother, Christian, for a new caddie – was to leave long-time swing coach Pat Goss for Chuck Cook. Donald arrived at this decision after playing with and being impressed by the ball-striking of champion Justin Rose in the final round of the U.S. Open. Donald first approached Rose's coach, Sean Foley, but Foley's plate was full with Rose, Tiger Woods, Hunter Mahan, Lee Westwood and a young family to rear. But Foley mentioned Cook.
"I've had a lot of success with Pat, and I got to No. 1 and certainly would never take anything away from what we did together," said Donald, who still works with Goss on the short game. "But as a player you always know what you feel inside, and I want to just feel a little bit more in control of my ball when I'm over it. … I have a little bit of an old-fashioned swing where I use my hands a bit too much and I don't rely on just the bigger muscles, which is what Chuck is trying to get me to do in my swing now. Hopefully those things will lead to more consistency tee to green and I can continue to be good around the greens, and it'll just make me a better player."
Donald said the swing changes are "pretty different" but that he's a quick learner and should get most of them "down" by the end of the year. As for the end of this week, at least he has course knowledge on his side.
"I guess if there was ever a year to struggle, to come into an event needing a big week, this is a good one to come to," he said. "Obviously it's a course I'm very familiar with … I certainly have a lot more familiarity than most of the players who probably are seeing it for the first time today. Hopefully that's an advantage for me. I certainly need a big week."
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