Golf: Donald Ducks Palmer But Goes After Tiger

If the standing of a player can be measured by the stature of the people he is prepared to give the brush-off, then Luke Donald is well on the way to achieving his ambition of becoming the world's No1, as Arnold Palmer will now testify.

After winning the Honda Classic in Florida this month, the Englishman walked off the green, hugged his girlfriend, picked up the ceremonial cheque and was then handed a telephone. It was Palmer on the line, asking Donald to reconsider his decision not to enter the Bay Hill Invitational, a US PGA tournament hosted by the original superstar of the American game.

"Literally, I had just done a television interview and they handed me a cell phone," Donald said yesterday, still blushing at the memory. "It was tricky. It is hard to say no to someone who is as great a golfer as he is." So tricky, in fact, that the Englishman did not say no. "I didn't want to say no to his face, so I told him, well, I'd think about it and would get back to him."

In the end, a message was sent to Palmer politely declining the invitation. Donald spent the week at his new home in Florida, entertaining old school friends from England and getting ready for this week's Players Championship, where he will start today's first round as one of the favourites.

Another contender from a strong European contingent will be David Howell - another Englishman of modest demeanour but burgeoning reputation. Like Donald, Howell shows every sign of being a well adjusted human being unaffected by the pampered lifestyle of a world-class professional golfer. "Actually, I am surprised at how well my career as gone," he said yesterday when asked about his rise to 13th place in the world rankings.

Donald would probably say the same of his own career, although there are some who would say the opposite is true given the Englishman's terrific record as an amateur, when he dominated the US university circuit. There has never been any doubt about his abilities - he is one of the purest ball strikers in the modern game - but there have been doubts about his mental strength. Donald is nice. The question has been: is he too nice? No longer. It takes bottle to turn down Palmer, just as it takes a brave man to declare his intention to knock Tiger Woods from his perch at the top of the world rankings, as Donald did in the aftermath of the Honda event.

The Donald of old might have blanched when he read such bold statements in the cold print, but yesterday he was more than happy to expand on them.

"If you start believing you can be the best, then slowly it will happen," he said. "I'm not trying to anything away from Tiger - he's a phenomenal player - but I think the only way for me to catch him to start believing that I am as good as him. If I don't, then I'm not going to be as good as he is. Full stop.

"Last year I talked a lot about being comfortable that I was a top-10 player and that if I finished in the top 10 at a tournament then that was very satisfactory. But right now I want to up my goals. If I finish 10th this week then I will go away thinking that I didn't play as well as I could."

Donald will never have a better opportunity to beat Woods than he has over the next four days. For one thing, the course at Sawgrass is short, by modern standards, and tight, and it has never been one of Woods's favourites. More pertinently, the world No1 has not had the ideal preparation for the event, having reportedly flown to California yesterday to be with his father, Earl Woods, who is seriously ill with cancer.

Woods's agent Mark Steinberg issued a statement saying that the world No1 was not at the course yesterday for "personal reasons" but would return to Florida in time for today's first round.

Englishmen abroad

David Howells (world No13)

Age 30

Lives Weybridge

2006 form

Six events

January

Abu Dhabi

Missed cut

Qatar Masters =24th

February

Dubai Desert Classic =28th

WCG Accenture Match Play =5th

March

Doral Ford =12th

TCL Classic =7th

Luke Donald (world No10)

Age 28

Lives Palm Beach

2006 form

Five events

January

Buick Invitational =24th

February

Pebble Beach =7th

Nissan Open =12th

WCG Accenture Match Play =9th

March

Honda Classic

Won