MARANA, Ariz. – Luke Donald practically grunted Tuesday lifting the Jack Nicklaus Trophy during a presentation of all the PGA Tour end-of-the year awards he won last season.
“Jack needs to lose some weight,” Donald cracked.
The Nicklaus Trophy is presented to the PGA Tour Player of the Year, as voted by the players. Donald also was presented the Arnold Palmer Award as the leading money winner, the Byron Nelson Award for having the low scoring average and the Mark McCormack Award for reigning the longest at No. 1.
Donald said winning the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship last year paved the way to his trophy haul. The Accenture was the first of his four worldwide titles in 2011.
“Probably the most important [victory],” Donald said of his 2011 run. “I think without winning here that maybe some of the other wins wouldn’t have been possible. It really restored some of my confidence in myself and proved to myself that I could win again.”
Donald meets Ernie Els at 2:05 p.m. ET Wednesday in Accenture’s first round.