After sleepless nights in the lead-up to overseeing a historic Ryder Cup triumph, Luke Donald is happy to be returning to the “day job” as he breaks more new ground in his career at the DP World India Championship.
Three weeks since becoming only the second European Captain to win home and away at the Ryder Cup after Tony Jacklin, the Englishman takes his place in a star-studded international field at the newest event on the DP World Tour schedule.
Donald has played and won in a host of worldwide locations during his career, including in Asia, but this week sees the former World Number One make his professional debut in India at the historic Delhi Golf Club.
“It’s a different feel,” he said. “Obviously the last few years has been a lot of Ryder Cup and especially the last few weeks.
“What we did in New York was amazing, but it’s back to the day job now a little bit, and I’m excited to be here in India for the first time.
“I've travelled around the world quite a lot with golf but never been to India.
“When I had the opportunity to come, it seemed like a great opportunity, a couple weeks after the Ryder Cup, to come experience this wonderful country.”
Having cemented his legacy as a Ryder Cup great at Bethpage last month, there have been calls for Donald to stay on for a third edition, but he has made clear he will not rush into a decision.
"If I'm not a captain in two years' time and the captain wants me to be there, then I'm sure I would be happy to help him in any way he wanted," he said.
Juggling leading your continent into an away Ryder Cup and maintaining a competitive schedule is an almost impossible task, with Donald openly admitting a shift in mindset to focusing back on his playing career will take time.
“In the lead-up to the Ryder Cup, you're spending five or six weeks just thinking about all kinds of different things, partnerships, pairings, the golf course, the gifting," he added.
“There's just so much that goes into it that your mind is kind of clogged.
“I've had many nights where I've woken up with Ryder Cup dreams and things where I had forgotten my radio one night and there's still one game out on the course and I was panicking, and I was trying to get to the game. Just things like that.
“It just takes a little bit of time for you to settle down. I think actually coming here, playing a tournament will actually help. It will get my mind more back on what I need to do this week.
“It's a fun problem to have after a win in the Ryder Cup, but I'm excited to get back to playing.”
Donald is joined by a quartet of players from the winning European team at Bethpage – Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and Shane Lowry – at this week’s landmark $4 million tournament, co-sanctioned with the Professional Golf Tour of India.
While at a different point in his career, the 47-year-old still believes he can compete in their company and that belief may be aided with the venue being short and narrow and thereby putting a premium on accuracy rather than length.
“You watch a lot of golf as a captain during the matches, and it's impressive how good these players are from both sides.
“You hope you learn a little bit from just being around great players like that, but it also makes you a little bit envious that maybe they have shots that I don't have anymore.
“But I think even at the height of my career I was able to win tournaments even when I didn't have my best and be very smart about my golf and how I practised.
“I think there's still some benefit to having that experience, and maybe around a course like this, that might come into play a little bit more this week.”
