The former World No. 1 has a self-piercing machine that will turn you into a dead eye
Luke Donald relies on an excellent short game to become one of the best players in the game.
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In his prime, Luke Donald had one of the best shortstops in the world. He regularly ranks among the Tour's top five in short game strokes gained metrics, and rode that hitting streak to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking in the early 2010s.
In an age dominated by power, it's easy to forget just how successful you can be when you dial in your wedges and putter. But as Donald has shown, you can be more successful when you're at the top and goalscoring clubs.
One of the biggest keys to Donald's success was his dead eye accuracy with a flat stick – especially within 10 feet. So, how did he become one of the best players in the game? It was all because of this one practice.
Luke Donald sets the drill
Making putts within 10 feet is very important if you want to post low scores. Donald was well aware of this fact, and made sure to emphasize this grade every time he was on the green.
“I can create this practice four to eight feet,” said Donald. “Twenty covers four different holes.”
Setting up this drill is easy. Take five balls and go find a hole on the green. Place one ball at four feet, one at five feet, one at six feet, one at seven feet and the last ball at eight feet. Then go through the sequence and try to do as many as you can.
After the first sequence, go find another hole location and repeat the drill again. Do this on four different hole locations and keep track of how many putts you hole.
When Donald was growing up, he aimed to make 16 putts during this drill – good for an 80 percent average. This goal may be a little high for most weekend soldiers, but even if you can do about 50 percent of this list, you'll be in good shape.
Work these drills into your practice routine and you're sure to become a dead-eye putter in no time.
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