Luke Donald will be back where hisannus mirabilisall began next week when he returns to the Arizona desert to defend the WGC – Accenture Match Play.
Donald’s victory at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain last year ignited a magnificent season which saw the Englishman rise to the summit of world golf as he established himself as World Number One and made history as the first player to win both The Race to Dubai on the European Tour and the US PGA Tour money list in the same season.
His victory in the WGC – Accenture Match Play twelve months ago was followed by that momentous day at Wentworth Club in May when Donald denied Lee Westwood in a play-off to take the BMW PGA Championship title and rise to World Number One, a position he has held ever since, and then the Barclays Scottish Open title.
And he claimed his fourth title of the year when he capped off the US PGA Tour season with victory in the Children’s Miracle Classic, reeling off six birdies in the back nine to take the title and the US PGA Tour money list title.
Throughout 2011 he played a combined total of 24 events on The European Tour and the US PGA Tour and was placed in the top ten 18 times, winning four of them and runner-up on a further three occasions.
“This is really where it all started for me for last year,” said Donald yesterday during a media gathering ahead of the event. “My last win in America before coming here and winning was in 2006 at the Honda Classic. So it had been a while since I'd won on the PGA Tour. To come here and play against the best players in the world and to win in the fashion I did, gave me a huge amount of confidence.”
Reflecting on his year, Donald commented: “It's certainly my best year by far, all starting here as winning this tournament really gave me a huge amount of confidence - not just in winning, but the way I wanted. I never went to the 18th. Usually in match play you have to dig out a few matches. It just seemed that year, that week, everything went smoothly. I was able to control every match, never get behind. I think because of that, it led up to a lot of the successes I had after the win.
“There was the match at Wentworth, going head-to-head with the Number One spot at stake and playing well enough to hold on to it, and still being ranked Number right now. Picking up another win in the Scottish, and my most satisfying win was probably Disney. Going there, and knowing that I had to win to have any chance of winning that money title, and pulling out the goods when I needed to.
“Those are the moments that define a career and make me more proud because I was able to kind of find the shots when I needed to. And winning both money titles and doing something that nobody had ever done officially. Those are the kind of things that you'll always aspire to do - to create history and change the history books.
“Certainly it will be tough to match that, but I'll give it my best shot this year.”
Donald will go into the first WGC event of the year as the top seed and, for the first time, all four top qualifiers are European with Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer occupying the top four positions in the World Ranking. The draw will be based on next Monday’s Official World Golf Ranking and while there will be some movement throughout the field of 64, Donald is certain to be Number One and looking to lead the European Tour line in the first match play event of the year.
“Obviously, the European Tour is enjoying a great and rich vein of form,” he said. “We have the top four guys in the world rankings right now.
“I think a lot of the Europeans grew up playing match play as amateurs as well, and I think that helps a little bit. But these things go in veins of form, and the European Tour is enjoying a great run right now.
“We've had success in the Ryder Cups. We've gained some confidence from those matches, and sometimes those little things add up.”
