As World Number One, European Number One and the only player in world golf to have won three times this year, Luke Donald has plenty of reasons to be confident ahead of The Open Championship at Royal St George’s.
Donald’s victory in the Barclays Scottish Open, where he closed with a dazzling 63 – the lowest of his professional career – at Castle Stuart Golf Links, followed his previous triumphs in the WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship and the BMW PGA Championship, the Tour’s flagship event.
Remarkably, he has only finished outside the top six once in the seven events he has played on The 2011 European Tour International Schedule and amassed a staggering €3,153,531. If he wins The Open Championship this week he would be on the verge of winning more money than any other player in European history.
That record is currently held by Martin Kaymer, but should Donald collect the €999,540 first prize on Sunday night, he will be closing in on the €4,461,011 the German won last year, a sum that included the $1.5 million bonus pool for topping the Race to Dubai.
Donald leads his nearest challenger – Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel – by €1,319,239 with US Open Champion Rory McIlory third in The Race to Dubai, a further €113,531, adrift so he cannot be caught this week regardless of the result. Indeed, in terms of the Official World Golf Ranking, Lee Westwood is the only player within striking distance.
“I see it as all positive,” he said after his win. “I’ll be high on confidence, I’m obviously hitting the ball nicely and to do it on a links course is even better.
“That’s why I decided to play in Scotland this year. There’s always a little added pressure when you’re number one, but hopefully I’ve proved I can handle that.
“It’s nice to get another victory – I think I could get used to this!”
Donald is the first Englishman to head into The Open as World Number One since Sir Nick Faldo in 1983, and he will be bidding to become the first Scottish Open Champion to win The Open seven days later.
“The challenge is always to have your game the week of a major,” he added.
“Looking at the history of how I’ve played, I like going on runs – when I play well, I tend to play well the next week.
“It’s just managing those expectations, not getting too ahead of myself and still sticking to the processes of what I need to do to improve.”
Donald’s dominance is, in many ways, in stark contrast to the varied story of The 2011 Race to Dubai. In 30 events, there have been 27 different winners, with only Donald and Schwartzel (the Joburg Open and Masters Tournament) recording multiple victories.
There have been five first-time winners, and players from 14 different nationalities have recorded wins. There has been a 25 year age differential between the youngest and oldest winners this season, with Matteo Manassero winning the Maybank Malaysian Open at just 17 years and 363 days, and Thomas Levet winning the Alstom Open de France at 42 years and 301 days.
A total of €70,555,219 in prize money has been paid out so far this season, but with 22 events remaining, including some of the most lucrative including The Open and US PGA and the season ending Dubai World Championship, there is still plenty to play for.
