Jamie Donaldson hoping to kick-start season

• Jamie Donaldson pleased with Players Championship showing
• Hopes now to kick-start his season as he heads back to Europe
• “I’m looking forward to getting home and having a big summer”

European Ryder Cup star Jamie Donaldson was pleased with his performance at the Players Championship but said he was happy to be heading back to the UK after a four-month stint in the USA.

The 39-year-old finished in a tie for eighth at TPC Sawgrass, alongside world No.1 Rory McIlroy, after an excellent final round of 67 to record just his second top ten finish in ten PGA Tour starts.

But Donaldson is confident that his Players showing can kick-start what has been an unspectacular season so far as he heads into the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth next week.

“The season has been up-and-down, no real heroics as yet” – Jamie Donaldson

“The season has been up-and-down, no real heroics as yet,” said Jamie Donaldson after his final round. “I’m happy with the way I played this week and moving on, I’m looking forward to getting home and having a big summer.

“I’ve been here for four months with the family, which has been awesome, but I’m looking forward to getting back, having a week off at home, catching up with friends and kicking off in Europe again.”

This year is the Welshman’s first with a PGA Tour card, after performing well enough in the events he played in 2014, such as a runner-up finish at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral and top 25 finishes at the Masters and PGA Championship.

And he admits he’s still getting used to playing across the Atlantic but hopes to do well enough for the remainder of the season to earn a spot in the FedExCup play-offs.

He said: “Obviously I want to get in these play-offs at the end of the year, that’s important for me. I’ve played pretty good over here, but not good enough in places a lot of the time.

“But it’s all a learning curve, I haven’t played that much in America. I’m still playing courses I never played before and I’m trying to get used to where I want to play and where I don’t want to play.

“On the whole, it’s been great. We have played some great golf courses, big courses this year early on and it’s tough. You’ve just got to get your head down and keep grinding until you get results that you want.”

After the BMW PGA Championship, Jamie Donaldson will compete in the Irish Open at Royal County Down GC the following week before returning to the USA for only his third US Open appearance at Chambers Bay from June 18-21.

Jamie Donaldson :: Major winner?

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