English golfer Luke Donald is proving just how determined he is to land his elusive first major title in 2014 by changing his swing coach for the first time since he turned pro 16 years ago.
The 35 year old Englishman revealed to the press that he has employed the services of American coach Chuck Cook, the Texan who oversaw the meteoric rise of the newly crowned US PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner. He has also coached former major winners like Payne Stewart and Corey Pavin in the past and it is this impressive CV of the American that prompted the Englishman and former world number one to go for him.
His decision to change swing coaches will, no doubt, come as a surprise to many, considering how close his relationship with Pat Goss is. But Donald has also revealed that he will not do away with the services of long time mentor completely and will have him around to help him with his short game.
Pat Goss and Luke Donald have worked together since the Englishman joined the Northwestern back in 1997 and their partnership have yielded 14 titles on the Tour, over £ 25 million in earnings and also a stint at the top of the leader board in the Official World Golf Rankings.
He told the media that he has decided to go with Cook because he wants to improve his long game and make it more consistent in order to stand a chance at the majors. He added that he has realized that the majors require a completely different philosophy to the other tournaments on the Tour. Luke Donald stated that where as a good putting game can win any other tournament, majors are not like that and require a certain level of consistency which he hopes Cook can bring to his game.