Luke Donald (born December 7, 1977) is an English golfer who plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour. He is currently the 10th best player in the world, and is best British player, with his nearest challenger being David Howell in 17th.
Born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. Donald played his junior golf at Hazlemere and Beaconsfield Golf Clubs. He was club champion of Beaconsfield twice, winning the championship first at the age of 15. Donald took a golf scholarship at Northwestern University, where he majored in art. He won the individual NCAA men's title in 1999, beating the scoring record formerly held by Tiger Woods. Donald turned professional in 2001. The following year he won the rain-shortened Southern Farm Bureau Classic. In 2004 he won the Omega European Masters and the Scandinavian Masters on the European Tour. In the same year he was a member of the victorious European Ryder Cup team and also won the WGC-World Cup for England in partnership with Paul Casey. By early 2005 he was in the top twenty of the Official World Golf Rankings and his win in the 2006 Honda Classic moved him into the top ten for the first time. Soon afterwards he moved up to ninth.
Donald, along with Tom Watson, was one of two players to play with Jack Nicklaus in the final two rounds of golf in his career, at the 2005 Open Championship at St Andrews. He was probably selected for this honour because he was the highest ranked British golfer at the time and, along with Nicklaus, a spokesman for the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Professional wins
- 2002 Southern Farm Bureau Classic (PGA Tour)
- 2004 Omega European Masters, Scandinavian Masters (both on the European Tour)
- 2005 Target World Challenge (United States - not a PGA Tour event)
- 2006 Honda Classic (PGA Tour)
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T3 | T42 |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | T57 | DNP | DNP | T18 | |
| The Open Championship | CUT | CUT | DNP | CUT | CUT | CUT | T52 | |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T66 | T24 | T23 |
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
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Team appearances
Amateur
- Walker Cup: 1999 (winners), 2001 (winners)
- Eisenhower Trophy: 1998 (winners), 2000
- St Andrews Trophy: 1998, 2000 (winners)
- Jacques Leglise Trophy: 1995 (winners)
Professional
- Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 2004 (winners)
- WGC-World Cup (representing England): 2004 (winners), 2005
