And be aware of certain places you mustn't be; where, if you're going to miss those big undulating greens, you shouldn't miss left, or shouldn't miss right, or shouldn't be short, or shouldn't be long. There are some holes there that fit your eye, in the sense that you don't think you can miss [the fairway] from the tee And there are some, like 13, that are more narrow. I've had trouble on that hole before."It is a fair bet that Donald will not be dwelling on past difficulties when he tees up on the par-four 13th on Thursday. He is a devoted practitioner of visualisation, conjuring a picture in his mind of the fine shot he is about to hit All golfers visualise shots to some extent. So I watched with interest as he plodded to the top of the Pinehurst leader board on the first day, and cursed myself for not having had a small wager on him with the aforesaid Mr Hill. I then congratulated myself on my foresight when, after an opening 69, his scores got higher and higher and he finished with a miserable 80.At last week's J P McManus charity pro-am in Ireland, however, Donald was sticking to his belief that the US Open, historically the hardest for non-Americans to win, is still the major to which his game is best suited."I needed to be more patient I was attacking too many pins and pushing too hard But it was only my second US Open. I'm a member of the Bears' Club, his signature course in Florida, and I see him there in the winter sometimes, as well on RBS days [golf days organised by the Royal Bank of Scotland, which sponsors both Donald and Nicklaus]."I've watched the videos and heard his stories, about the majors he won, and the ones he didn't win.
And he has listened carefully to the only man alive to have won two Opens at St Andrews."I have gotten to know Jack [Nicklaus] a little, or at least gotten to the point where I can call him Jack rather than Mr Nicklaus. I keep it straight off the tee, and I play good tactical golf Actually, that's why I did well at Augusta. I thought it was a long-hitters' paradise, but you've really got to position shots into the greens, and that's one of my strengths."He told me that before this year's US Open at Pinehurst, North Carolina. There was only one major that he thought he lost, after being in a position to win. He usually finished the job."Of course, Nicklaus - to whom the Open Championship crowds will make a doubtless emotional farewell later this week (or, dare we imagine, next Sunday) - is unique in having won all four majors at least three times.Donald, for all his ambition, knows that the precise, steady game acknowledged on the US Tour with the nickname "Plod", suits some championships better than others "The US Open is probably my best bet. Mostly the majors he didn't win were won by other guys, in the sense that Jack didn't lose them.
I believe I have the right mentality."But there is the right mentality to win a major and the right mentality to win an Open at St Andrews. The last four men to triumph at the Home of Golf, Tiger Woods, John Daly, Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros, while wildly different personalities, were nothing if not implacable believers in their own talent Donald, I fancy, is the same. "He's always said I would be very successful, and I do feel confident that I'm going to win majors. And Donald accepts the burden of McEvoy's expectation with a shy smile "Peter's always been very kind to me," he says. I think pressure can be a good thing."Peter McEvoy, who captained two Walker Cup teams in which Donald shone luminously, believes firmly that his prot? will be the next Brit to win a major.
