In May 2011, Donald became the number one golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking after winning the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club.

Donald captained the European team in the 2023 Ryder Cup side to a 161⁄2-111⁄2 victory over the United States at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club.

[10] 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.

[16] Later in the year 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.

[17] 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.

[22] Donald's biggest win to date came in February 2011 at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship when he defeated the German Martin Kaymer 3&2 in the final.

[citation needed] Donald continued his early-season form at The Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links when he held the lead going into final round with Jim Furyk.

With the pressure of knowing that he would become the new world number 1, he shot a one under par 70 to finish tied with American Brandt Snedeker, who fired a 64 (−7).

[citation needed] In May 2011, Donald beat Lee Westwood in a playoff to win the European Tour's flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club.

Westwood chipped out from the drop zone and made double bogey, leaving Donald to hole out for a birdie to win the title and become the new world number one.

[citation needed] At the first WGC event of the year, the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Donald in defence of his title he won in 2011, was eliminated in the opening round by South African Ernie Els who beat him 5&4.

This was his fifth victory on the PGA Tour and came after a solid week's play culminating in a four-man playoff with Robert Garrigus, Bae Sang-moon and Jim Furyk.

After a loose tee shot found the rough, Donald hit a brilliant seven iron approach to within six feet on the 18th, the first extra hole.

There had only been 5 birdies all day in regulation play on the 18th and when Furyk, Bae and Garrigus all missed their putts, Donald brushed his in for the victory and the number one ranking.

[30] On 15 April 2012, Donald lost the number one ranking to McIlroy when he failed to finish inside the top 8 at the RBC Heritage.

[31] In the same week, Donald retained his title at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on 27 May 2012, with a four stroke victory over Justin Rose and Paul Lawrie.

He became only the third player to successfully defend the European Tour's flagship event, alongside Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie.

The victory was Donald's seventh title on the European Tour and resulted in a return to World Number One for the fourth time.

Donald then shot a final round of 75 (+5) to finish in a tie for eighth, recording the first top 10-finish of his career in a U.S. Open tournament.

In November 2013, Donald defended his title at the Dunlop Phoenix on the Japan Golf Tour, cruising to a six shot victory over the field.

Donald started the season promisingly, with top-10s in the Honda Classic and the Valspar Championship before missing the cut by one shot at the Masters in April.

He failed to make the European Ryder Cup team after losing out on a wild card pick from captain Paul McGinley.

In November, Donald announced that he had switched back to his old coach Pat Goss as he believed that he was not making any progress under Cook after facing the disappointment of missing the Ryder Cup.

This lack of form caused Donald to fail to qualify for the Masters in April, for the first time since 2004, due to falling down to 90th in the World Rankings.

[citation needed] In April 2017, Donald finished runner-up at the RBC Heritage, one stroke behind the winner, Wesley Bryan.

This moved him to third on the list of players to have runner-up finishes in an event without winning, behind Jack Nicklaus's seven at the Canadian Open and Phil Mickelson's six at the U.S.

[41][42][43] On August 1, 2022, Donald was announced as the captain of the European Ryder Cup team for the 2023 matches in Italy, replacing Henrik Stenson who had been removed from the role due to his decision to join LIV Golf.

[57] Donald met his future wife, Chicago native Diane Antonopoulos, while attending Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

[citation needed] this list may be incomplete *Note: The 2002 Southern Farm Bureau Classic was shortened to 54 holes due to weather.

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = tied Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.