Luke Donald

Although his father was from southwest Scotland, Donald was born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. He has described himself as "half-Scottish." Nevertheless, Donald played golf as an Englishman and represented England in golf's World Cup. He played junior golf at Hazlemere and Beaconsfield Golf Clubs. He was twice the club champion of Beaconsfield, first winning the championship at age 15. Donald's brother, Christian, also played junior golf and caddied for Luke through 2009 - going on to caddie for Paul Casey and Martin Kaymer.
He accepted a golf scholarship at Northwestern, where he studied art theory and practice. Today, he is an avid painter.
Donald won the individual NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship in 1999, besting the scoring record formerly held by Tiger Woods.
He turned professional in August 2001 after leading Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup Team to a 15-9 victory at Ocean Forest G.C. in Sea Island, Ga. He also competed in the 1999 Walker Cup Match, going 7-1 overall in match play.
He rejoined the European Tour in 2004, making him eligible for Ryder Cup play. Has been a member of the 2004, 2006, 2010, and 2012 European Teams. He is the captain of the 2023 European Team.
2010 signaled an end to the problems caused by a wrist injury sustained in 2008 while playing out of rough at the U.S. Open. He missed the rest of the year after surgery and had some problems early in 2009.
2011 Notes: The season will be remembered as one of the most unique in golf, as Donald became the first to win the money title on both the PGA Tour and European Tour in the same season. In total, playing 27 events, he earned $9,371,748. The joy of his achievements was tempered by the sudden death of his father, Colin, in November, the same week his second daughter, Sophia, was born.
Since first taking the No. 1 spot in the world rankings in May 2011, Donald held the top ranking off and on for 56 weeks before losing it for the last time when Rory McIlroy won the 2012 PGA Championship.
2012 Notes: Donald won once on the PGA Tour at Tampa Bay and had eight top-10 finishes, moving to 14th on the PGA Tour money list with earnings of $3.5 million. On the European Tour, he defended his BMW PGA Championship title and moved to seventh in earnings with just under 2.7 million euros. He also won on the Japan Tour at the Dunlop Phoenix.
2013 Notes: Finished T-3rd at the RBC Heritage and T-4th at the Tampa Bay Championship. He was in the running at the U.S. Open going into Sunday before finishing the final round with a 75 that dropped him to T-8th. He was ranked 28th in the FedExCup race and 36th in the money race. On the European Tour, he played 13 events but finished 43rd in The Race to Dubai. After the Tour Championship, Donald made several drastic changes in his life, first with a new coach, then a new management deal, and, lastly, a change of swing with the help of Chuck Cook. He saw positive progress in winning the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan at the end of the year.
2014 Notes: Came close to winning the RBC Heritage, falling victim to a final-round 64 by Matt Kuchar. Donald finished second, just one shot back. He also finished T-3 at the BMW PGA Championship, T-4 at the Valspar Championship, and T-8 at the Honda Classic. In 12 events, he did not have a top-15 finish and had only a pair of finishes in the top 25. He finished the year 89th in the FedExCup standings and 72nd on the money list. On the European Tour, he finished 50th in The Race to Dubai.
2015 Notes: He has two top-10s on the PGA Tour, T-7th at the Honda Classic and Travelers Championship. They finished 80th in the FedEx Cup rankings and 99th on the money list. The European Tour started the year with a 3rd place finish at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, added a T-7th at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, and then T-5th at the British Masters. Finished 33rd in the Race to Dubai and earned euro1,059,212.
2016 Notes: Played in 23 PGA Tour events making 17 cuts with 2 top-tens. Finished T-2nd at the RBC Heritage, two shots back of Branden Grace, and 2nd at the Wyndham Championship 5 back of winner Si Woo Kim. He extended his streak of FedExCup Playoff appearances to a perfect 10-of-10, one of 16 players who has accomplished this feat. He was 58th in the FedExCup standings and 63rd on the money list.
2017 Notes: Played in 18 PGA Tour events making the cut 7 times. Had his 5th career runner-up finish at the RBC Heritage, a tournament record, finishing one shot back of Wesley Bryan. Now owns seven top-three finishes in his last nine starts (12 overall) at Harbour Town Golf Links (2nd in 2017, T-2nd in 2016, 2nd in 2014, T-3rd in 2013, 2nd in 2011, T-3rd in 2010, and T-2nd in 2009). Since 1934 is one of six players in PGA Tour history to finish runner-up in an event five times. Only two players have more runner-up finishes in an event during that span: Jack Nicklaus (7, RBC Canadian Open) and Phil Mickelson (6, U.S. Open). He joins Payne Stewart (The Honda Classic), Jack Nicklaus (Ford Championship at Doral), and Greg Norman (BMW Championship) with five runner-up finishes in the same event. With three top-25 finishers advanced to the FedExCup Playoffs for the 11th time in the 11 seasons of the FedExCup, finishing 105th.
2018 Notes: Could only play in 9 PGA Tour events. After missing the cut at Heritage, during which he had terrible pain in his back, he decided to get it fixed. Little did he know that he would play his last event of the year. The first treatment Donald tried was stem cell therapy with platelet-rich plasma injections. The stem cells were taken from his hip, spun with blood, and injected into his back. He couldn't hit balls for three months as doctors waited for the treatment to take hold. The only problem was that it didn't work; his herniated L4 and L5 disks were still hurting. He spent several months with a "stretching guru" and still didn't experience the kind of relief he wanted. Next up was more traditional physiotherapy that focused on strengthening his core muscles and "creating a little bit of space in that area" of his back. Four months in, Donald saw good results, on and off the golf course; playing in the QBE Shootout, he was pain-free and, with partner Andrew Landry finished T-10th. He served as the Vice Captain of the European Ryder Cup team.
2019 Notes: Played in 12 PGA Tour events making six cuts. He played for the first time on the PGA Tour at the Sony Open in Hawaii and missed the cut. His next start at the Valspar saw some great results; he started with rounds of 67-70-70 and was three shots back of the lead but shot a final round 73 to finish T-9th. Since then, his best finish on the PGA Tour was T-33rd at the RBC Heritage, and he hasn't had any problems with the back. He was T-10th at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
2020 Notes: Played in 11 PGA Tour events, best finish T-11th at the Honda Classic.
2021 Notes: Played in 23 PGA Tour events, best finish T-13th at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
2022 Notes: Played in 22 PGA Tour events, best finish T-16th at the Valspar Championship. In August was named as the European Captain for the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy.
2023 Notes: Was T-23rd at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Edoardo Molinari.