June date would be better for Woburn : Donaldson

WOBURN, England (Reuters) – Ryder Cup hero Jamie Donaldson is delighted that the British Masters is back on the European Tour but would prefer the $4.55 million tournament to have a different slot on the calendar.

The event was first played at Stoneham on the south coast of England in 1946 and has returned to the schedule at Woburn, situated 50 miles north of London, this week following a seven-year absence.

“I would love to see it as a consistent tournament on our schedule,” Donaldson told Reuters in an interview after signing off with a one-over 72 in a sun-kissed final round and a level-par tally of 284.

“It would be nice to see it in the middle of the season, in June maybe, when you could get the greens firmer.”

Donaldson, who was soaked in celebratory champagne after securing the winning point for Europe by beating American Keegan Bradley 4 and 3 in the last-day singles at the Ryder Cup last year, was unable to come to grips with the putting surfaces.

The 39-year-old Welshman’s closing four holes at the British Masters summed up his week on the tree-lined Marquess Course as he mixed two birdies with two dropped strokes.

“The whole week was a bit up and down really,” said Donaldson. “I’m feeling a bit tired.

“I played really good the previous two weeks, was in contention both times, but the course here didn’t really suit me.

“I hit a lot of good shots from the fairway but couldn’t get close to the flags and didn’t putt great,” added Donaldson.

“The greens are tricky, they are very, very soft and it’s hard to control the golf ball. You are always chipping to take the spin off and that’s very hard to do.”

RANKINGS FALL

Donaldson followed up his tie for fifth at the European Open in Germany two weeks ago by sharing 13th place at the Dunhill Links Pro-Am Championship in Scotland.

He began this season ranked 24th in the world after winding up a career-high fourth on the European money-list in 2014 by winning the Czech Masters and claiming runner-up finishes at the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa and the WGC-Cadillac Championship in Florida.

This year has not been anywhere near as successful for Donaldson and he has fallen to 48th in the world.

“My game is not too far off,” he said. “I’ve probably played one tournament too many this week after having played two in a row.

“The Dunhill was a huge week so I’ll have two weeks off now and get ready for the last four of the season.”

Donaldson’s face suddenly lit up when the conversation turned to this weekend’s other main sporting activities.

He was pleased the Wales soccer squad had qualified for next year’s European Championship in France and was also relishing the prospect of his country’s rugby team meeting the powerful South Africans in next week’s World Cup quarter-finals.

“I watched the rugby on television,” said Donaldson of Wales’ 15-6 defeat by Australia at Twickenham on Saturday.

“How Wales didn’t score a try when the ball was almost on the line with 15 minutes to go I don’t know but, overall, it was a great game to watch.”

(By Tony Jimenez, Editing by Ed Osmond)