Jamie Donaldson has reached the notable milestone of 500 appearances on the DP World Tour after teeing it up at this week’s KLM Open.
The Welshman becomes the 47th player in Tour history to reach that figure, more than 23 years after making his debut.
In addition to his three wins on the DP World Tour, another career highlight came in the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, where he secured the winning point for Europe as his side retained the famous trophy.
Donaldson returned three points from four matches, winning two of those alongside Lee Westwood in foursomes and defeating Keegan Bradley 5&3 in the Sunday Singles to bring Europe to the 14½ point mark. He struck his approach to the 15th hole to two feet, and Bradley conceded the match as they reached the green.
"It feels like more [than 500]," he said after being presented with a silver salver following his opening one-over-par 73 at The International. "It's a nice landmark. Obviously it has been a long time, 2001 is the first time I played any DP World Tour golf. It goes quick. It is a lot of golf, a lot of tournaments, a lot of years but from when you start you don't believe it is going to go as quick as it has done.
"There have been some highs and lows but it's been enjoyable mainly."
His appearance in golf’s greatest team contest can be credited to an upturn in form that started in the 2010 season, as he broke into the Top 100 on the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time and recorded nine top ten finishes.
He carried this consistency into the 2011 season, recording eight further top ten finishes, and finally earned a breakthrough victory the following year, claiming the 2012 Irish Open by four strokes at Royal Portrush. It was his 255th event on Tour and he became the tenth Welshman to win in the Tour’s history.
Donaldson ended that season a then-career high 19th on the Race to Dubai, and the following year he won his second title at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, defeating Thorbjørn Olesen and Justin Rose by a single stroke.
His form during the 2014 Ryder Cup qualification period saw him finish inside the automatic qualifiers on the European Points List as he recorded nine top ten finishes. That included his third victory at the D+D REAL Czech Masters in 2014, which was the penultimate counting event before the qualification period ended, and he ended the year a career-high fourth on the Race to Dubai Rankings.
"The Ryder Cup experience was the best, obviously," he added. "To be a part of a winning team is all you want and I had a bit more than that. I played great that week so that was obviously the high.
"There were the wins as well in Czech Republic, Abu Dhabi and Ireland. That is what you play for. It is a lot of golf to play to only win three tournaments. You want to win more, of course you do, but some people don't win at all. 500 tournaments has been thoroughly enjoyable and I've loved every minute of it."
After earning status on the PGA TOUR for 2015, he moved to a career-high 23rd on the OWGR after finishing sixth at the Honda Classic. Donaldson has played in all four Major Championships during his career, with a T7 finish at the 2012 US PGA Championship at Kiawah Island his best result.
He made his first appearance at The Masters in 2013, and earned a place in Augusta National’s record books as he became only the fifth player in the event’s then-77-year history to record a hole-in-one at the par three sixth.
Guy Kinnings, the DP World Tour’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “I have known Jamie since he turned professional and it therefore gives me great delight in being able to congratulate him on reaching this magnificent milestone of 500 Tour appearances.
“To win in Ireland and Abu Dhabi and then to back that up with victory in the Czech Republic to cement his Ryder Cup place that year says all you need to know about his talent and determination. Then to go on to secure the winning point in the 2014 Ryder Cup, puts him in a very select club and one he is rightly very proud to be a member of. He is one of the Tour’s great characters and I wish him continued success as he embarks on the next 500.”
Donaldson made his Tour debut at the 2001 Mercedes-Benz South African Open, and that year finished second on the Challenge Tour Rankings as he secured promotion to the main Tour. He won twice on the Challenge Tour that season, and then added a third title in 2007 as he returned to the Challenge Tour, but again immediately graduated after finishing third on the season-long standings.
He has represented Europe, Great Britain & Ireland and Wales both as an amateur and professional.
