2011 season was the year of The (Luke) Donald
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
If you were wavering . . . if you had the slightest doubt . . . if you were ready for one last debate . . . forget it. Put it to rest.
This was the year of The Donald.
Luke Donald. The quiet, soft-spoken, thoughtful Englishman who was just a random thought in our minds 12 months ago. And even then, the reason was because he was one of the front-runners in that best-player-who-hasn't-won-a-major race.
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Heading into 2012, he's still the leader of that major-less pack, but he's also so much more.
He's the PGA TOUR's Player of the Year, as voted by his fellow members on TOUR and announced on Tuesday.
He made history by winning money titles on two continents.
Oh, and he's ranked No. 1 in the world. In case you forgot.
In a year where nothing seemed to go according to plan, Donald taught us to think outside the box. To realize that, yes, majors will always be the focus, but you can have a once-upon-a-time season -- one that may never be repeated -- without one.
"I've done a lot of things this year," Donald said Tuesday, "that probably not a lot of people would have given me much chance of doing."
So what if he doesn't exactly fit the Superman mold. He fits another kind, according to PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem, who told Donald, "You are a role model for what we'd like to see young players be."
The commissioner was talking about Donald's impeccable demeanor. But he could have also been taking about his game skills.
Donald splits fairways and plays catch-up on the way to the green with -- what is, but shouldn't be -- an incredibly underrated short game. He's a throwback -- a whopping 5-foot-9, 160 pounds of hard work who taught us that top-10 consistency may be one of the most underrated elements in a game that's focused on stretching courses; a Northwestern-trained artist who overcame losing his father, celebrated the birth of his second child and created a season that took a you-take-it, no-you-take it crowded race to No. 1 and turned it into a masterpiece of the year, leading the TOUR in money and scoring average.
In the end, it was the year of the littler guy, not the bombers. Not the athletes who can dunk. Rather the guys who dance with what they've been given; guys who tailor a plan to their strengths and use their brain, their focus, to execute it.
Oh, and guys who can putt.
Consider this: Donald ranked 147th in driving distance on the TOUR this year, while the other four players up for Player of the Year honors ranked no worse than 51st in that category. But in Strokes Gained-Putting, the TOUR's primary putting statistic, Donald led the TOUR this year. Only one of his four runners-up was even within sniffing distance of being top 10 in that category (Nick Watney, who ranked 12th).
Luke's 2011 changed our perceptions of what it takes to be the best. And one that isn't likely to be repeated.
OK, he's not the first player to take up full-time status on both the PGA TOUR and European Tour. But he is just the first to win lead both money lists at the same time. Yes, Tiger Woods did lead both lists several times, but he was a member solely of the PGA TOUR, and didn't criss-cross the world to play the minimum number of events on both tours.
Oh, and what about Donald's heroic play at the end of the year? He added the final event on the TOUR schedule, the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic, to his schedule, knowing he HAD to win it to win the TOUR money title -- then he went out and did just that. Then he played in the Dubai World Championship, needing a top nine finish to hold off Rory McIlroy, all the while mourning the death of his father.
Impressive stuff.
Or as McIlroy, the U.S. Open champ, called it: Incredible.
"From within the golfing family he'll receive a lot of applause for what he's done this year,'' he said. "But, unfortunately, maybe people outside the golfing world think that even though he's won four times this year, there will always be that question of 'Is he the real No.1 because he's not got a Major?'
"He deserves it all. He played great all year and he deserves to be No.1 in the world and deserved to win both money lists."
And he deserves the TOUR's Player of the Year honors.
Now we wonder if anyone will -- or can -- follow suit.
The Donald had the perfect storm. He ended 2010 with a sprint that included the Ryder Cup win, and top-three finishes in four of his last six events, a terrific springboard into 2011. He came into the season ranked ninth in the world and, once Tiger fell out of the top spot, it was a free-for-all. A handful of players packed in tight, each one hoping to separate himself and step up.
Lee Westwood was ranked No. 1 going into February's World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. At the end of the week, it was Martin Kaymer who had risen to the top spot -- but it was Donald who beat Kaymer and five other opponents that week to win his first TOUR event in five years and move to No. 3 in the world.
He then reached No. 1 with a win on the European Tour in May. The next day he was in Ohio teeing it up at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance.
That resilience was amazing in and of itself. While we were talking about rookie winners and guys who bomb it off the tee, Donald went about his business. He took what was once a bit of a backhanded slap -- Luke Donald Disease (top 10s, few wins) -- and made it a trait to envy.
About the only thing he didn't do was win the FedExCup. In fact, for the second year in a row, he finished third -- just thisshort.
But perhaps the most important factor was his comfort zone in America. Having gone to college at Northwestern, he's happily married to an American and living in Chicago. Of course, his roots are in England and always will be. Yet he found a way to strike that balance between the UK and the colonies that few players have been able to do.
Not only is he the first Englishmen to win the TOUR's Player of the Year honors (first awarded in 1990), but just the second European behind 2008 winner Padraig Harrington and fifth International player.
Over the years, we've watched players try to find a balance to the global game and come up frustrated. Players like Greg Norman and Nick Price -- each a past winner of the TOUR's Player of the Year honor - settled for the U.S., while Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle and Seve Ballesteros, to name just a few, never really felt comfortable in the States when they tried to split their time. Colin Montgomerie played college golf at Houston Baptist but bolted back home as soon as possible to his comfort zone and made the European Tour his global base.
And the travel does take a toll. Look at McIlroy, who spent part of a quick vacation getting IVs and trying to rest from an exhausting schedule late in the year.
McIlroy and Westwood -- Nos. 2 and 3 in the world -- have committed to play both tours in 2012, but that doesn't mean either one can -- or will -- produce a season like The Donald. Or that "the force" that we all teased was with Luke will continue at the same top-10 pace.
Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell are all international players who have found homes in America but still play in Europe. But they would need to crack the world top 10 -- in some cases, again -- and produce better-than-great seasons to have a shot at a double.
As for Americans? We know Tiger, Phil Mickelson and guys like Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson will dabble around the world, but stick with one home base -- the PGA TOUR. And Adam Scott cut his teeth on the European Tour, but now, like Tiger and Phil, plays the TOUR with a bit more global reach.
The chances of another perfect two-TOUR storm? Well, one of the new big three could prove us wrong -- no telling how McIlroy and Westwood will adjust -- but with Tiger suddenly finding his way and American kids like Simpson and Keegan Bradley and Bill Haas (who joined Watney as runners-up to Donald in the balloting) stepping up, it seems doubtful.
But honestly, as impressive as the feat was, as dominant as the stats were -- 19 top 10s, four wins, two money titles -- the bigger story should be that The Donald redefined what it takes to be best in the game.
He knows the players took note. They know now that skill and precision and focus can more than counteract power off the tee.
They know it can take you to a season to remember and to No. 1 -- on two continents as well as the world.
Melanie Hauser is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM and can be reached at melaniehauser@gmail.com. Her views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR. Follow her on Twitter @melaniehauser.
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