Faldo tips Donald for Masters success

Sir Nick Faldo is confident Luke Donald has what it takes to end his long wait for a major when the Masters begins at Augusta this week.

Donald regained the world number one ranking by winning the Transitions Championship in Florida last month and goes into the first major of the season as one of the favourites for the Green Jacket.

The 34-year-old tied fourth in last year’s Masters to prolong his misery in major championships – Donald has never finished higher than third in 37 attempts.

Faldo – the last Brit to win the Masters back in 1996 – believes Donald will taste success before long and expects him to be among the frontrunners at the Masters.

"Luke is one of the guys who has won in the last month, he played great last year and he was right there. He has learnt from that experience. I think Luke has all the qualities that you need," Faldo told Sky Sports.

There is every chance a Briton will be in the running going into the final day at Augusta. The world’s top three golfers and four of the top 10 come from the British Isles.

Tiger Woods has been in good form at the start of 2012 – winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the end of March – and is hotly tipped to add to his four victories at the Masters.

Faldo does not expect Woods to live up to his billing as golf betting favorite; the bookies choice for golf Major bets.

"The big difference now is that in the past - and Tiger hasn't won it since '05 - he was beating Phil (Mickelson), Ernie (Els) and maybe Vijay (Singh) back in that era. Now there are 10 guys he's got to beat and maybe they are not as scared of him nowadays as they used to be," Faldo added.