Luke Donald is hopeful he can conjure up some Seve Ballesteros-style magic at Royal Lytham and St Annes this week to win the British Open and finally banish his blank sheet in the majors.
It was at the compact, bunker-strewn Lancashire links course that the legendary Spaniard won two of his three Open titles -- in 1979 and 1988 -- and on both occasions his superb short game and scrambling abilities were key.
Ballesteros, who died in May of last year at age 54 after a long battle against a brain tumour, entered golfing folklore during his 1979 triumph when he used his driver nine times in the final round and hit only one fairway.
The highlight of that astounding performance came at the 16th when he fired his ball into a temporary car park to the right of the fairway.
After a free drop, he hit a recovery shot to the edge of the green and calmly rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt.
Donald, whose own short game is rated among the best in the world, was only 18-months old when Ballesteros was producing his magic, but he has seen replays of what happened from TV recordings.
"I have watched some of it, the iconic chip, playing from the car park on 16," he said.
"Yeah, I think that should give me some heart, that I've not always been known as the guy who hits it consistently tee to green, but I have a great short game.
"I have great skills to get the ball in the hole no matter how I'm playing and I think that's what won him The Open Championship.
"Seve was known as someone that would hit it wild off the tee and use his short game to get out of trouble.
"No matter where he was, he felt like he could hole a shot. I've got to go into this tournament with that kind of fun attitude, that no matter how I'm hitting it, there's always a way to make a score."
Donald will not be brooding too much on his past record at the Open.
In 11 previous campaigns he has placed in the top 10 only once -- a tie for fifth at Turnberry in 2009. Last year he failed even to make the cut.
That has been synonymous with his stumbling performances at the majors in general, having now played in 36 with his best showing a tie for third at the 2005 Masters and at the PGA Championship the following year.
This year has seen no improvement as he tied for 23rd at the Masters and missed the cut at the US Open in San Francisco.
At the same time, he has gradually tightened his grip on the World No. 1 spot.
He is currently into his fourth spell at the top and into his 53rd week overall putting him behind just four players -- Tiger Woods (623), Greg Norman (331), Nick Faldo (97) and Ballesteros (61) -- in the 24-year history of the world rankings.
How to transfer that consistency in the regular tournaments into success in the majors, though, is proving elusive to him.
"I think the remedy has to come from me," Donald said.
"It's taken a bit of time for that to drop, that thought to drop, because I just have been getting a little bit too uptight and anxious.
"It's a very normal mode to switch into because the pressure is that much more. You want it that much more. It's a very normal thing to happen.
"It's about, for me, just kind of controlling it and predetermining how I want to feel and trying to stick to that. It's going to be tough
"There will be times when I get uptight, but then I've just got to kind of remember where I am and how I want to feel over each shot."
Determined to leave no stone unturned in his quest to finally win a major, Donald has recently turned for advice to Nick Faldo, the most successful British player of modern times.
Source: AFP European Edition
