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Donald aiming to use No. 1 as weapon against rivals

Luke Donald is looking to complete back-to-back victories in Kent this week © PA Photos

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Scottish Open champion Luke Donald is hoping to use his status as world No. 1 to his advantage at this week's Open Championship at Royal St George's.

The Englishman took his third victory of the year on Sunday at the rain-shortened event at Castle Stuart, the perfect boost ahead of the third major of the year. The win also ensured he maintained his position at the top of the world rankings, and Donald is hoping he can begin to use his lofty status as a psychological weapon against the rest of the field, much as Tiger Woods used to.

Donald does not believe the rankings lie, so feels he can draw huge confidence from the position he is currently in.

"I think there is a little bit of that aura that Tiger had obviously in abundance when he was No. 1," Donald said. "I doubt people see me the same way yet because I just don't have his record. But there's certainly a slight aura being No. 1, and if that helps me gain just a little bit over my opponents, then so be it.

"The rankings are a statistic. It's not an opinion. It's a straight statistic. So obviously statistically I've played the best over the last two years.

"This year I've earned quite a few more points than anyone else in the world and hence I've got to the top. Obviously I would feel better with myself if I had a major under my belt, as well, but it's certainly not a world ranking based on majors. It's based on a two-year period over many tournaments.

"I've proved that I'm the most consistent and that I've earned the most points."

Donald's record in his home major is far from impressive, however, with his previous appearance at the Sandwich course in 2003 resulting in one of a number of missed cuts in the event. However, he feels he now has a different mindset for the majors that has helped improve his performances.

"I was very disappointed with my Open record. I think I missed something like five or six cuts in a row," he said. "At first, when I was an amateur, it was good just to get near the cut. And then as I became a pro, it became disappointing every time I got very close to making the weekend.

"Obviously my goals have changed a little bit and that's probably why my results have changed, not so much cuts orientated. I'm thinking about winning the tournaments."

Paul Lawrie remains the last Home Nations player to win the Open, after his surprise success at Carnoustie in 1999. But Rory McIlroy gave hope that might be about to change after a stunning success in the US Open at Congressional last month - a dominant display that Donald admits he will look to emulate.

"It was impressive to watch him [McIlroy] play as well as he did, impressive in that it's not that hard to play one or two rounds very well, but to play the four rounds and not really go through a real stretch of one or two holes even where he struggled, was very impressive," he said.

"It just gives me the knowledge that it can be done, and that I still have a lot of room for improvement. I'll continue to work harder to try to strive to do something like Rory did. It's something I'm continually looking to do.

"It's a goal of mine to go out and win a tournament like that, where I'm going away from the field. In the past I've always kind of slipped up for a round here or a few holes here and there, and Rory didn't do that. He kept his foot on the pedal and went away from the field."

Ahead of the Open there was little movement in the world rankings, with Tiger Woods dropping two places to 19th while Matt Kuchar's solid finish in Scotland enabled him to leapfrog Jason Day into seventh.

World Rankings
1. Luke Donald (ENG), 2. Lee Westwood (ENG) 3. Martin Kaymer (GER), 4. Rory McIlroy (NIR), 5. Steve Stricker (USA), 6. Phil Mickelson (USA), 7. Matt Kuchar (USA) 8. Jason Day (AUS), 9. Graeme McDowell (NIR), 10. Nick Watney (USA), 11. Charl Schwartzel (RSA), 12. Dustin Johnson (USA), 13. KJ Choi (KOR), 14. Bubba Watson (USA), 15. Paul Casey (ENG), 16. Ian Poulter (ENG), 17. Adam Scott (AUS), 18. Robert Karlsson (SWE), 19. Tiger Woods (USA), 20. Hunter Mahan (USA)

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