Donald jogs memories as he goes back to basics

Not only has Donald been usurped as top Englishman in the world ranking by Rose, he has also been gazumped as leading ambassador from these isles on the United States tour.

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Donald chose a good time, therefore, to jog a few memories with a fine first round 68 on Thursday in the event known to all and sundry as the Los Angeles Open, if not the new sponsors, who have tried to foist upon us the horrible Northern Trust Open.

Donald's detractors will tell you that, like the LA Open title, his time has come and gone, his classic swing overtaken by the 'grip and rip it' approach so prevalent in golf these days.

Indeed, the 30-year-old readily admits that one of the reasons why he lost his way last year was in trying to force the issue and come up with more yards to keep up with the boys kicking sand in his face.

Now he has gone back to basics, to the method that led to him being ranked in the world's top 10 for much of his twenties, and his consistency is returning.

He said: 'That was the thing that was driving me mad last year but it is definitely a lot better now and my confidence is coming back as well. It was a pretty solid round, because I was hardly in any difficulty all day.'

Let us hope this is the start of the good times once more, for it would be a sad day indeed if there was no place in the modern game for Luke Donald-type golf. Certainly there is a place for it on a grand, traditional course like Riviera, whose timeless virtues are such that 17 of the world's top 20 players have turned up to pay homage.

No Tiger Woods, but this event effortlessly held the interest yesterday morning as Donald, Open Champion Padraig Harrington, Phil Mickelson and — now here's a real 'remember me?' character — John Daly showed that it is possible to navigate your way round here using both brain or brawn.

Mickelson matched Donald's 68, as did the German Alex Cejka, to be tied fourth on the lunchtime leaderboard. Daly and Harrington both opened with highly satisfactory 69s.

Take that: Harrington tees off on the ninth

As Harrington said: 'Any score in the sixties round here is a good one,' even if this one did leave him four adrift of the man surely destined to end the day in pole position, the talented Korean KJ Choi. American Kevin Na was second after a 66, with fellow countryman Chad Campbell in third spot following a 67.

Harrington was nowhere near as arrow straight as Donald, but that imperious short game carried him once more to a score that, in terms of ball striking, represented over-achievement. 'I'm still trying to get rid of the winter cobwebs,' admitted the Irishman.

'I go out full of expectation but I haven't played enough rounds yet where I've reached the stage where I can completely trust my swing.'

Daly's eternally colourful lifestyle has inspired a brilliant new nickname, 'etch-o-sketch,' on account of the fact that no matter how much he messes up, people will always wipe the slate clean and give him another chance.

His round was typically full of the reasons why, as he reached three under par early on, only to give all the shots back before picking up two more.

To say this was an improvement on his previous form on the California swing would be an understatement, given that he missed the cut in his last two events and withdrew from the one before that, the Bob Hope Classic.

The 41-year-old cited a rib injury on that occasion, but there were also stories that he was up to his bad old ways at tournament parties, with eyewitnesses claiming he was so drunk at one he had to be helped out.

Given that Daly has been in rehab as often as Britney Spears, that is less shocking than the fact he is on the leaderboard here, alongside so many whose addiction is the gym.

Mickelson, of course, is another who has shown an infinite capacity to put setbacks behind him. He threw away this title last year and comes here having missed the cut last week by six shots, following a spectacular 11 on one hole in the Pebble Beach pro-am.

This was more like the player who remains a clear world No 2, however, as he seeks to take full advantage of the absence of 'you know who'.

As for Rose and fellow Englishmen Lee Westwood, Paul Casey and Brian Davis, they all caught an unlucky break in teeing off after lunch, when the wind had picked up appreciably.

Rose battled back from a rough start to be one over with three to play, the same mark as Westwood, who had played nine. Casey was two over after ten, and Davis three over after nine.