The (Luke) Donald's No-Three Putt Streak

I've been enjoying Paul Mahoney's reports from the Dunhill at St. Andrews (here's the Friday report on John Daly's 67, setting himself up for a spectacular implosion).

But I just couldn't let his Thursday report go without noting the incredible streak Luke Donald had going until he met up with the 10th 7th green at Kingsbarns.

He teed off at the 10th with 434 consecutive holes without a single three-putt, the longest running streak in the game.

In an age when it feels like half the players on tour are converting to the belly putter in a desperate attempt to coax the ball into the hole, Donald's short flatstick has been rattling them in for seven tournaments over eight weeks, stretching back to the Canadian Open, the week after the British Open at Royal St George's. A remarkable statistic in a sport obsessed with them.

Donald extended his magical touch on the greens all the way through his front nine and got to the seventh (his 16th) before disaster struck. Well OK, it wasn't THAT tragic, but his run of holes without a three-putt came to an end at 449. After lagging up from 70 feet, Donald was left with an eight-footer for par -- and missed.

"I was a little upset, yeah," Donald said with a wry smile after signing for a three-under-par 69. It's the little victories in golf, isn't, that we look for. I didn't want to miss. But 69 is not a bad score to start the week."