Luke Donald had one of the best seasons on record since Tiger Woods completely dominated the PGA Tour during the 2000-2001 seasons.
In 2011, Luke had two wins, two second-place and two third-place finishes, with 14 Top 10s and 16 Top 25s in 19 starts on the PGA Tour.
Throw in another two wins and 10 Top 10s in 13 events played on the European Tour, and it all adds up to a phenomenal year and over $14 million in pocket change.
He won the WGC-Accenture Match Play in February against a field that included the top 64 golfers in the world. One of his second-place finishes was recorded at the WGC-Bridgestone—another elite field.
He finished T4 at the Masters and the Players tournaments, which both feature tough golf courses and high-class fields. The Players especially may have the toughest field of any event.
His second win on the PGA Tour came at the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals tournament at Disney at the end of October. It was a tournament he was not scheduled to play, but had to add at the last minute to fend off Webb Simpson’s attack on the PGA Tour Money Title.
Donald had to win the first-place check to overtake Simpson.
The win at Disney also secured PGA Tour Player of the Year honors for him.
Luke returned home to Chicago for a little R&R in November, and had to deal with the death of his father just a few days before the birth of his second child. Does that sound like a restful month to you?
While Luke had his sticks in the garage, Rory McIlroy had a T4 at the WGC-HSBC Champions in November and a win in Hong Kong in December to creep within $600,000 for the European Tour’s Race to Dubai.
A win for Rory at the Dubai World Championship would take the European Tour’s money title from Luke’s grasp after he had led the Race to Dubai for the entire year.
After the family matters were handled in November, Luke jumped on a plane, hopped over to South Africa, knocked the rust off of his clubs in a warm-up event and then jetted up to Dubai for the showdown with McIlroy.
Rory eventually faded and finished in 11th place in Dubai. Too much travel, plus a case of the rare Dengue Fever slowed him down.
Luke finished third in Dubai and captured the Race to Dubai, making him the first player to officially win the money titles on both the PGA and European Tours in the same year.
Given the enormous amount of travel to compete around the world on both tours, deal with the death of his father and the birth of a child—plus hold off stout challenges to his goal of winning the money titles—Luke Donald had one of the best golf years on record.
Four wins and 20 Top 10s in 26 worldwide events, against the best players at every stop, is nearly impossible to imagine.
I don’t care if he didn’t win a major.
To win a major you need to be the best for one week. Luke was the best from February to December. He is No. 1 on the PGA Tour, No. 1 on the European Tour and deservedly No. 1 on the Official World Golf Rankings.
I will take “consistency” over “flash” every time.
Congratulations, Luke Donald, on one of the best years ever in Golf.
