Luke Donald

Luke Campbell Donald is an English professional golfer who competes on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. He was born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England on December 7, 1977.

Donald has spent over 50 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings, starting with his 2006 Honda Classic victory. In January 2007, he reached a career milestone ranking of 7, and was the highest ranked European golfer for a time.

Although his father is from Stranraer in southwest Scotland, Donald was born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. Luke Donald and his brother Christian played junior golf at Hazlemere and Beaconsfield Golf Clubs. Christian now caddies for Luke. Luke was the club champion of Beaconsfield twice, winning the championship first at the age of 15. He attended the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe.

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 Donald was not admitted to the university, Goodwin turned to Jeff Mory.

Donald subsequently took a golf scholarship at Northwestern University in 1997, where he studied art theory and practice, and became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. His golf coach is Pat Goss, men's golf coach at Northwestern University. He won the individual NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships 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 Old Course 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 Garcia.

Donald has amassed career earnings on the PGA Tour of over $14,000,000.

Luke Donald signed with sports management company IMG in 2003. Donald is also sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, whose sponsorship includes mentoring sessions with Jack Nicklaus who is also sponsored by RBS. He also has a multi-year contract with Mizuno Corp. As part of this sponsorship Luke plays with Mizuno Driver, Fairway Woods, Irons and Wedges. Luke also carries a Mizuno Bag, Headcovers and Umbrella. Luke also wears his trademark Mizuno visor as part of his sponsorship. It has been reported that he receives $1 million just for wearing his Mizuno visor, and this could quadruple if he wins a major event such as the Masters. 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.

Donald met his future wife, Diane Antonopoulos from Chicago, during his college years at Northwestern University. He proposed in June 2006, and the couple married on 24 June 2007 on Santorini, the Greek home island of Diane's family. Donald's longstanding interest in art is well documented. An amateur artist himself, he enjoys painting and drawing when not on tour.

In 2002, one of his oil paintings was auctioned by the PGA Tour for charity. Luke and Diane Donald are also avid collectors of contemporary art. The couple have homes in: High Wycombe; a luxury condo located in Evanston, Illinois; and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

• Driver - Mizuno MP-600
• 3-Wood - Royal Collection BBD, 14 Degrees
• Hybrid - Mizuno FLI-Hi CLK, 17 Degrees
• Irons - Mizuno MP-62 (3-PW)
• Wedges - Mizuno MP Series, 54 Degrees and 60 Degrees
• Putter - Odyssey XG #7 (Butane Finish) with a black series grip
• Ball - Titleist Pro V1x
• Glove - Mizuno Skintite Leather
• Bag - Mizuno Tour