Donald ends the drought with victory in Spain

MADRID MASTERS:TALKING THE talk and walking the walk are two different things but Madrid Masters winner Luke Donald and Ulsterman Graeme McDowell will head to this week's Wales Open in high spirits after memorable weeks in the Spanish capital.

Donald’s name has become synonymous with underachievement in recent years, prompting one American commentator to coin the phrase “Luke Donald Disease” to sum up the British golfing malaise he believed is responsible for a major championship drought that goes all the way back to Paul Lawrie’s Open win in 1999.

The 32-year-old Englishman won’t have silenced all his critics with his one-stoke victory over the 25-year old Welshman Rhys Davies at the Real Sociedad Hípica Española Club de Campo, but his first tour triumph for four years was impressive nonetheless.

Tied for the lead with Davies on 16 under entering the final round, Donald found himself in a three-way share of top spot with the promising Welshman and the Italian Francesco Molinari on 19 under par with three holes to play.

Having thrown away a golden chance to win the BMW PGA the previous week with a 71st hole double bogey seven, Donald banished his demons when he courageously hit a 252-yard hybrid to 12 feet at the par-five 16th and drained the putt to edge in front.

He eventually closed with two pars for a five under par 67 and one-stroke win over Davies on 21-under par as McDowell claimed solo fourth place on 17 under and a dose of confidence thanks to a stunning, seven under par 65.

“It’s been a while since I won and to put last week behind me makes me very proud,” said Donald, who earned enough world ranking points to push Pádraig Harrington out of an automatic Ryder Cup spot. “The way I played today means a lot to me. The eagle was huge because Rhys put a lot of pressure on me.

“It’s happiness and relief – definitely some relief. I don’t listen too much to my critics but it was frustrating for myself not to have won in four years and to come out here and play solid golf and get back in the winner’s circle can hopefully open up a few more doors and I can win a few more.”

McDowell can’t wait for the big time summer golf season to roll around after an eight-birdie round that saw him get to within two of the lead with four to play before he ran out of holes and inspiration.

“I’ve no complaints, the damage was done yesterday,” said McDowell, whose third round 70 left him six adrift going out. “I was trying to get to 18 under but it was great to come out there and play well. All in all it was a great day’s work.

Putting brilliantly again, Peter Lawrie claimed his fourth top 10 finish of the season thanks to a 67.

Damien McGrane closed with a disappointing 72 to finish tied 36th on seven under with Shane Lowry’s 69 leaving him a shot further back alongside Paul McGinley, who dropped three shots in his last two holes for a 72.

267 Luke Donald 65 67 68 67.

268 Rhys Davies 65 68 67 68.

270 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 67 70 65 68.

271 Graeme McDowell (NIre) 68 68 70 65.

273 Robert Rock 70 68 67 68.

275 Stephen Gallacher 69 73 66 67, Jamie Donaldson 65 70 70 70, Peter Lawrie (Ire) 71 69 68 67.

276 Oliver Wilson 70 71 70 65.

277 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 71 71 67 68, Brett Rumford (Aus) 67 71 71 68, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 71 72 65 69, Simon Dyson 70 69 70 68, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 70 64 74, Gregory Havret (Fra) 68 74 69 66.

278 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 67 70 70 71, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 67 71 70 70, Richard Finch 68 71 69 70, Julien Quesne (Fra) 72 69 71 66, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 69 70 68 71.

279 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 73 68 68 70, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 68 73 68 70, Nick Dougherty 69 70 70 70, Markus Brier (Aut) 68 75 68 68, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 68 73 70 68, Graeme Storm 73 64 67 75, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 70 72 73 64.

280 Gary Orr 73 67 71 69, Joost Luiten (Ned) 70 69 74 67, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 71 70 71 68, David Lynn 72 70 68 70, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 73 67 70 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 71 67 72 70, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 68 70 72 70, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 71 70 70 69.

281 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 75 67 71 68, Damien McGrane (Ire) 69 73 67 72, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 69 70 70 72, Alastair Forsyth 74 69 71 67, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 72 71 69 69.

282 Peter Whiteford 73 70 66 73, Shane Lowry (Ire) 69 74 70 69, Santiago Luna (Spa) 69 71 74 68, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 69 72 69 72, Paul McGinley (Ire) 66 74 70 72, Johan Edfors (Swe) 67 73 71 71.

283 Richard Green (Aus) 71 67 74 71, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 70 71 69 73, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 72 71 71 69.

284 Carl Suneson (Spa) 69 73 71 71, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 68 74 72 70.

285 Danny Lee (Nzl) 69 74 68 74, Gary Boyd 73 68 74 70, Phillip Price 67 74 71 73, Tano Goya (Arg) 69 72 67 77, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 75 67 67 76, Oliver Fisher 70 72 73 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 70 72 74 69, Ross McGowan 68 74 74 69.

286 Gary Clark 71 71 73 71, Sion E Bebb 70 71 72 73, Bradley Dredge 67 73 72 74.

287 John Parry 72 70 73 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 66 76 73 72.

288 Sam Hutsby 73 69 70 76, Paul Lawrie 73 70 69 76.

289 James Kingston (Rsa) 68 71 76 74.

290 Julien Guerrier (Fra) 68 74 71 77, James Morrison 70 70 76 74.

291 Jorge Campillo (Spa) 72 70 75 74.

292 Alvaro Salto (Spa) 74 68 72 78, David Drysdale 69 74 74 75, Stephen Dodd 69 74 75 74.

294 Kenneth Ferrie 73 70 70 81.

295 Marc Warren 70 71 81 73, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 72 71 78 74.

296 Marcel Siem (Ger) 72 71 76 77.