Donald takes Madrid Masters, moves into top 10
Luke Donald put his second place disappointment at the BMW PGA Championship a week ago behind him when he triumphed at the Madrid Masters yesterday, scoring victory after four years without a win.
Donald had double-bogeyed the 17th to scupper his chances at Wentworth, but he made no mistake here, winning by a shot after eagling the 16th - his third eagle of the tournament - to finish a stroke ahead of Wales' Rhys Davies, who could only birdie the same hole.
Donald came home five-under par 67 on the day, 21-under for the tournament, with Davies finishing in second place on 20-under. Italy's Francesco Molinari took third on 18-under, Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell was fourth on 17-under, and England's Robert Rock was in fifth place on 15-under.
As well as last week's runner up finish, the Englishman has enjoyed two further top-10 finishes this year. But Donald's most recent victory came all the way back at the PGA Tour's Honda Classic in 2006, while his last win in Europe was two years prior to that.
But after this weekend's win, Donald has forced his way to No. 9 in the world; that means an impressive four English players now hold places in the world's top 10, as does Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy. Not that Donald was paying too much attention to the rankings - the 32-year-old was just happy to take victory after a lengthy wait.
"It's been a while since I won and to put last week behind me makes me very proud," he said after the win. "The way I played today means a lot to me. The eagle was huge because Rhys put a lot of pressure on me.
"It's happiness and relief - definitely some relief."
Davies will have been disappointed by his inability to deny Donald; a win here would have propelled him into the world's top 50 for the first time. But the Welshman was happy with his performance, commenting: "I didn't make a bogey in the final group in a big tournament. I've got lots to be pleased about."
With one win already under his belt this year, courtesy of the Trophee Hassan, there's plenty of time for the 25-year-old to improve. Let's hope that next victory doesn't take four years, however - either for Davies or Donald.
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