Donald at No. 1 and makes no apologies

LEMONT, Ill. (AP) - Luke Donald has been No. 1 in the world longer than anyone else this year and still doesn't think he gets credit for it.

Donald was in a jovial mood Wednesday at the BMW Championship, having finished his pro-am before a light rain began falling at Cog Hill.

The Englishman is at home this week in Chicago, where he was an NCAA champion at Northwestern and loved the Windy City so much that he still lives here for most of the year.

He is at No. 4 in the FedEx Cup, still right in the mix for the $10 million bonus in a year that already feels much more valuable.

Even so, he became slightly irritated at the end of his news conference when someone pointed out that he had not won on the PGA Tour since February, and the suggestion that some might be surprised to see him at No. 1 in the world.

"Well, you do get world ranking points outside of America, too," Donald said. "And I have won two pretty big events after that. It's not like I've just won once. I've won three times. I've earned almost double the amount of points than anyone out there. I've obviously had a great year, and that's why I'm at the top of the world rankings."

After the most dominant week at the Match Play Championship, where he never trailed in any match and never had to play the 18th hole in six matches, Donald rose to No. 1 in the world at the end of May when he beat Lee Westwood in a playoff at Wentworth to capture the European Tour's biggest event.

Two months later, he won the Scottish Open in dominant fashion.

He has 14 top 10s in the 19 tournaments he has played around the world. He was runner-up in the World Match Play in Spain, and lost in a playoff at Hilton Head.

That explains why Donald has amassed 422 world ranking points, which are 170 more than U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy.

But it doesn't explain why people still question how he got to No. 1 — a statistical measure around the world over two years — and he has to think when asked if he gets full respect as the world No. 1.

"Probably not the full respect," he said after his news conference. "No. 1, as I've said, is associated very much with what Tiger did in history. I think when you're No. 1 in the world, people expect you to win more majors, win every week. It's tough. That's not me. That's not anyone other than Tiger in the last 30 years."

Tiger Woods twice held the No. 1 spot for five straight years, during which he amassed 13 of his 14 majors and won at a staggering rate of nearly 30 percent.

He became the standard of excellence in golf, and Donald is among those who believe that because Woods was No. 1 for so long, his record became a blueprint for being atop the ranking.

It doesn't help that Vijay Singh interrupted Woods' run in 2004, the year he won nine times, including the PGA Championship. Lee Westwood was No. 1 for 22 weeks and didn't have a major. Martin Kaymer held the No. 1 spot for eight weeks, reaching the top six months after he won the PGA Championship.

"It's been a great year," Donald said. "But it's another year without a major. And I think people associate that with No. 1."

Donald is starting to build a cushion between him and Westwood, helped by giving himself a chance at the PGA Championship (tie for sixth) and a tie for third against a strong field at the Deutsche Bank Championship two weeks ago.

For now, his attention shifts to the third FedEx Cup playoff event, which starts Thursday at Cog Hill.

Then, it's on to Atlanta for the Tour Championship and a shot at the $10 million prize. After that, Donald returns to the European Tour for the Dunhill Links Championship and the Madrid Masters, where he is the defending champion.

He still has a chance at becoming the first player to win the money title on the PGA and European tours.

And at this rate, he'll be No. 1 for a while.

"It hasn't been a focus point," Donald said. "Getting to No. 1 is a result of playing well, and I'm tremendously proud of it. Rory said he wants to be No. 1. I'm sure a bunch of people want to overtake me. It's a mark of how consistent I've been. Nothing against winning, because that's important, but sometimes you play great for four days and it's your week.

"To be No. 1, you have to play great for two years."

David Toms agrees that No. 1 for many years was associated with a guy winning just about every week. What he sees from Donald is someone who seemingly gives himself a chance at winning every week.

"Any time you look at a leaderboard on Sunday, he's up there," Toms said. "To play the kind of golf he's played week after week, it says a lot about him, about the way he works at it and his overall game and certainly about his confidence. I think he's deserving of it. There are a lot of guys who win tournaments, but they'll go away for six weeks.

"For him, maybe he hasn't won a lot, but he has a lot of opportunities."