Luke Donald
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|
| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | December 7 1977 Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire |
| Height | ft in ( m) |
| Weight | 161 lb (73 kg) |
| Nationality |  England |
| Residence | Evanston, Illinois High Wycombe Palm Beach Gardens, Florida |
| College | Northwestern University |
| Career | |
| Turned Pro | 2001 |
| Current tour | PGA Tour (joined 2001) European Tour (joined 2003) |
| Professional wins | 5 (PGA Tour 2; European Tour 2; Other 1) |
| Best Results in Major Championships | |
| Masters | T3: 2005 |
| U.S. Open | T12: 2006 |
| British Open | T35: 2006 |
| PGA Championship | T3: 2006 |
| Awards | |
| Fred Haskins Award | 1999 |
Luke Campbell Donald (born December 7, 1977) is an English golfer who plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour. In 2006 he reached the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career. In January 2007 he reached a career high ranking of 7 and was briefly the highest ranked European golfer.
Biography
Born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, Donald and his brother Christian played junior golf at Hazlemere and Beaconsfield Golf Clubs - Christian now caddies for Luke. Luke was club champion of Beaconsfield twice, winning the championship first at the age of 15.
Collegiate career
Coming from England, Donald didn't know much about the collegiate recruiting process, so he joined College Prospects of America — a service that created a résumé for him and sent it to all the major colleges and universities in the United States. Several coaches responded, including Wally Goodwin at Stanford University. Donald didn't know much about Stanford, except: "that's where Tiger Woods went." Goodwin recruited Donald to join his golf squad, but when he was not admitted to the university, Goodwin turned to Jeff Mory. [1]
Donald resultantly took a golf scholarship at Northwestern University in 1997, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Donald studied art theory and practice, and became an avid painter; one of his paintings was auctioned by the PGA Tour for charity.[2] Donald's golf coach was Pat Goss, men's golf coach at Northwestern University, and Donald's only instructor since.[3] He won the individual NCAA men's title in 1999, beating the scoring record formerly held by Tiger Woods.
Professional career
Donald turned professional in 2001. The following year he won the rain-shortened Southern Farm Bureau Classic - becoming only the 11th rookie in PGA Tour history to earn more than $1 million in his first season. In 2004 he won the Omega European Masters and the Scandinavian Masters on the European Tour. In the same year he was a member of the victorious European Ryder Cup team and also won the WGC-World Cup for England in partnership with Paul Casey. By early 2005 he was in the top twenty of the Official World Golf Rankings and his win in the 2006 Honda Classic moved him into the top ten for the first time. Soon afterwards he moved up to ninth and in January 2007 he moved up to seventh in the world.
Donald, along with Tom Watson, was one of two players to play with Jack Nicklaus in the final two rounds of golf in his career, at the 2005 Open Championship at St Andrews.
Donald won his singles match, 2&1 against Chad Campbell in the 36th Ryder Cup to help ensure Europe win the trophy for a third successive time. Donald took part in 3 matches and won them all. He also won in the foursomes twice, with Sergio García.
Donald has amassed career earnings of over $11,000,000.
Sponsorship
Donald signed with sports management company IMG in 2003. He is also sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, whose sponsorship includes mentoring sessions with Jack Nicklaus who is also sponsored by RBS. Luke plays Mizuno equipment. [4] Luke Donald also has a sponsorship deal with Footjoy, who supply his shoes.
Polo Ralph Lauren announced, in February 2007, that Luke Donald has signed a new multi-year contract with the luxury apparel company. Luke will continue to serve as a brand ambassador for Polo Ralph Lauren worldwide for the RLX Golf range. With this exclusive sponsorship, Luke will continue to wear clothing from the RLX collection and will be featured in its advertising campaign. Polo Ralph Lauren has been the exclusive apparel sponsor of Donald since 2002.
Luke Donald is among a number of professional golf players sponsored by Ralph Lauren. Others include Tom Watson, Davis Love III, Jonathan Byrd, and Morgan Pressel.
Equipment
- Driver - Titleist 907 D2, 9.5 Degrees
- 3-Wood - Royal Collection BBD, 14 Degrees
- Hybrid - Mizuno FLI-Hi CLK, 17 Degrees
- Irons - Mizuno MP-32 (3-PW)
- Wedges - Mizuno MP Series, 54 Degrees and 60 Degrees
- Putter - Mizuno Bettinardi C-03, 33 inch Shaft
- Ball - Titleist Pro V1x - (Luke Donald's ball mark is a red dot between the Titleist and the number.)
- Glove - Mizuno Skintite Leather
- Bag - Mizuno Tour
Also in Donald's bag are;
- A couple of knitting needles and string, which he uses on the practice green for a putting drill which helps him to see how putts break.
- 2 energy bars on every round. These are eaten on the 6th and 12th tees.
Personal life
He met his long standing American girlfriend , Diane Antonopoulos from Chicago, at a local bar during his college years [5]. Donald proposed in June 2006, and the couple married on 24 June, 2007 on Santorini, the Greek home island of Diane's family.[6][7]. The couple have homes in: High Wycombe; a luxury condo decorated with art and views over Lake Michigan in Evanston, Illinois [8]; and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida [9]
Golfing record
PGA Tour wins (2)
Other professional wins (3)
- 2004 Omega European Masters, Scandinavian Masters (both on the European Tour)
- 2005 Target World Challenge (unofficial event)
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T3 | T42 | T10 |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | T18 | DNP | DNP | T57 | T12 | CUT |
| The Open Championship | CUT | CUT | DNP | CUT | CUT | CUT | T52 | T35 | T63 |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T23 | T24 | T66 | T3 | T23 |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.
Team appearances
Amateur
- Walker Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1999 (winners), 2001 (winners)
- Eisenhower Trophy (representing England): 1998 (winners), 2000
- St Andrews Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1998, 2000 (winners)
- Jacques Leglise Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1995 (winners)
Professional
- Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 2004 (winners), 2006 (winners)
- WGC-World Cup (representing England): 2004 (winners), 2005
References
- ^ http://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/northwestern/summer2004/features/coverstory/sidebar4.htm
- ^ http://www.pgatour.com/players/02/39/83/media-guide.html
- ^ http://www.golfdigest.com/instruction/index.ssf?/instruction/swingsequences/gd200302lukedonald.html
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/saraceno/2005-07-13-saraceno-donald_x.htm
- ^ http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-13-2006-99097.asp
- ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,3-2007270453,00.html
- ^ http://www.mizunousa.com/news.nsf/get/30C7460F8AFCCF268525718500531ABC?OpenDocument
- ^ http://www.golfonline.com/golfonline/features/features/article/0,17742,1145787-3,00.html
- ^ http://nusports.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/spec-rel/031306aab.html
External links
- Profile on the PGA Tour's official site
- Profile on the European Tour's official site
- Results for the last two years from the Official World Golf Rankings site
| 2004 European Ryder Cup Squad |
|---|
| Paul Casey · Darren Clarke · Luke Donald · Sergio García · Pádraig Harrington · David Howell · Miguel Ángel Jiménez · Bernhard Langer (captain) · Thomas Levet · Paul McGinley · Colin Montgomerie · Ian Poulter · Lee Westwood |
| 2006 European Ryder Cup Squad |
|---|
|
Paul Casey · Darren Clarke · Luke Donald · Sergio García · Pádraig Harrington · David Howell · Robert Karlsson · Paul McGinley · Colin Montgomerie · José María Olazábal · Henrik Stenson · Lee Westwood · Ian Woosnam (captain) |
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