Luke Donald is an English professional golfer who has been the World Number One. He plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour. Donald had an outstanding year in 2011, winning several tournaments and awards. He was named the PGA Player of the Year and the European Tour Golfer of the Year.
In May 2011, Donald became the number one golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking after winning the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club. He held the number one position for 40 weeks between May 2011 and March 2012 before Rory McIlroy briefly took over as world number one. Donald has spent a cumulative total of 56 weeks as the World Number One and has spent over 200 weeks in the top-10.
Birth Name
Luke Campbell Donald
Nickname
Luke Donald
Profession
Professional Golfer
Nationality
English
Personal Life
Birthday / Date of Birth
Luke Donald was born on the 7th of December 1977, in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom.
Age
He’s currently 45 years old.
Sun Sign
Sagittarius
Ethnicity
White
Religion
Christianity
Education
Luke attended the Rudolf Steiner School in Kings Langley and later the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe. He played junior golf at Hazlemere and Beaconsfield Golf Clubs. He was twice the club champion of Beaconsfield, first winning the championship at the age of 15.
Family Details
- Father – Colin Donald
- Mother – Ann Donald
- Siblings – Christian Donald (Brother) (Golfer)
Marital Status
Married
Girlfriend / Spouse
Luke Donald has dated –
- Diane Antonopoulos (2007- Present) – Donald met his wife, Chicago native Diane Antonopoulos, while attending Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He proposed in June 2006 and the couple married on 24 June 2007 in Santorini, Greece. They have three daughters is Elle, Sophia, Georgina. His third daughter, Georgina was born on 23 May 2014, while Donald was in England playing the BMW PGA Championship. The couple owns homes in Northfield, Illinois, Evanston, Illinois and Jupiter, Florida.
Physical Statistics
Height
- In feet – 5 feet 9 inches
- In centimeters – 175 cm
- In meters – 1.76 m
Weight
- In Kilograms – 74 kg
- In Pounds – 163 lbs
Body Build
Athletic
Eye Color
Blue
Hair Color
Blonde
Shoe Size
His shoe size is 11 (US).
Sexuality
Straight
Professional Statistics
Famous For
Donald had an outstanding year in 2011, winning several tournaments and awards. He was named the PGA Player of the Year and the European Tour Golfer of the Year. He also became the first Englishman to win the PGA Tour Player of the Year award, the PGA Tour’s Vardon Trophy and the Mark H. McCormack Award for the most weeks at number one during a calendar year.
Professional Career
Donald turned professional in 2001, making his debut as a professional at the Reno-Tahoe Open on the PGA Tour courtesy of a sponsors exemption. He missed the cut in his debut, but managed to earn invitations into six more events on the PGA Tour in 2001, making three cuts. He earned his tour card for the 2002 season by finishing T23rd at the Q-School.
In 2002, Donald made his first start as a member of the PGA Tour at the Sony Open in Hawaii, finishing tied for 13th. Donald won his maiden title on the PGA Tour in November 2002 at the Southern Farm Bureau Classic. The tournament was reduced to 54 holes after significant rain meant unplayable conditions and washed out play on the Sunday.
He was two strokes back at the halfway stage, but birdied holes 15, 16 and 17 on Saturday for a 67 and a one stroke advantage over South African Deane Pappas. After the final round was cancelled, Donald was crowned champion on Monday morning. With this success he became only the 11th rookie in PGA Tour history to earn more than $1 million in his first season.
Sponsorship
Donald signed with sports management company IMG in 2003. In January 2014, Donald left IMG and signed with agency Lagardère Unlimited. He has a multi-year contract with Mizuno Corp. As part of this sponsorship Donald plays with Mizuno Fairway Woods, Irons and Wedges. He 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. Donald also has a sponsorship deal with Jordan, who supply his personal and golf shoes. He formerly had tour sponsorships with Royal Bank of Canada as well as Zurich Insurance.
Donald was sponsored by Polo Ralph Lauren for more than a decade but he announced on Twitter on 30 December 2017 that he would no longer be wearing Polo Ralph Lauren RLX on the golf course. On 2 January 2018, Donald announced that he would be sponsored by Greyson Clothiers going forward.
Luke Donald Net worth
Luke Donald has an estimated net worth of $40 million dollars as of 2023.
Social Media Profiles
- Facebook – Luke Donald
- Instagram – lukedonald
- Twitter – Luke Donald
Some Lesser Known Facts About Luke Donald
- 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.
- In 1999, he won the individual NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships in 1999, beating the scoring record that was formerly held by Tiger Woods.
- In 2002, Donald made his first start as a member of the PGA Tour at the Sony Open in Hawaii, finishing tied for 13th. He won his maiden title on the PGA Tour in November 2002 at the Southern Farm Bureau Classic.
- In 2004, Donald 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.
- In 2005, Donald made his debut at the Masters Tournament and finished tied for 3rd place. He described his debut at Augusta National as “a great performance – I am very happy with that”. Donald rose in the World Rankings from 130th at the turn of the year to 13th in the world in April 2005 after his top-3 finish at the Masters.
- In March 2006, Donald won his second U.S. PGA Tour event at the Honda Classic in Florida, a victory which moved him into the top ten of the World Rankings for the first time. Donald finished tied for 3rd at the 2006 PGA Championship.
- In 2007, Luke Donald entered into a partnership with Terlato Wines to create a collection of bespoke wines. The first wine released (in April 2008) was a Claret-style red wine blend and a Carneros Chardonnay was released in spring 2009.
- In 2008, Donald sustained an injury to his left wrist at the U.S. Open that forced him to withdraw from the tournament during the final round. His injury resulted in him having a six-month lay-off from competitive golf which meant that he missed out on playing in the Open Championship, the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup that year.
- In May 2010, Donald won the Madrid Masters by one shot for his first title in four years.
- In October 2010, Donald was a member of the European team that won the 2010 Ryder Cup with a one-point win over the USA.
- In 2011, Donald defeated German Martin Kaymer 3-2 in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship to record his first and only World Golf Championship title.
- In July 2011, Donald won his first tournament as the world number one at the Barclays Scottish Open, which was held the week before the 2011 Open Championship.
- In 15 April 2012, Donald lost the number one ranking to McIlroy when he failed to finish inside the top 8 at the RBC Heritage.
- In March 2013, as defending champion at the Tampa Bay Championship, Donald finished in a tie for fourth. He missed his first-ever cut in a European Tour event at the Maybank Malaysian Open.
- In April 2017, Donald finished runner-up at the RBC Heritage, one stroke behind the winner, Wesley Bryan. This was the fifth time that Donald had finished as a runner-up at the event, without ever winning at Harbour Town Golf Links.
- In November 2017, Donald was forced to withdraw from the RSM Classic after experiencing chest pains before his first round. Donald was rushed to hospital but was later released. His premature end to the season meant he finished outside the world’s top 100 for the first time since his rookie year.
