Simon Veness looks at Luke Donald's hopes of topping the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic.
US-based British journalist eyes Luke Donald's bid for golf history
It's probably not the most obvious place for a sporting shootout, but Walt Disney World is about to witness a unique golfing challenge over the next four days.
Here, in the Florida home of Mickey and Co (and it's hard to avoid the overt Mouse-ness everywhere), Luke Donald will go head to head with Webb Simpson for the title of the US PGA's money-list winner for 2011 at the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic.
The world No 1 has already wrapped up top spot in the European Tour thanks to the princely sum of £3million earned over just 12 tournaments this season (that actually includes the WGC Match Play Championship in Arizona in February, which counts on both sides of the Atlantic. Confused? You soon will be).
Donald is more than £1million ahead of closest domestic rival Rory McIlroy and, although there are still several weeks to go, it is pretty much unthinkable that young Rory could bag enough cash to bridge that financial gap.
So, one down and one to go for the 33-year-old from High Wycombe who actually lives in Northfield, Illinois, when he isn't wintering in his other home in Palm Beach Gardens in Florida (about three hours south of here). Except that this year, Luke has actually spent more WAY more time on the road than in any of his own domiciles.
From Arizona to Florida and Spain to Scotland, the rather slightly-built Donald - at 5ft 9in, he looks me right in the eye, and no-one has ever accused me of being especially well proportioned - has actually spent 30 weeks of the year so far flying hither and thither in search of golfing glory (and money, of course).
To be fair, he hadn't actually planned to be in Orlando this week for the 19th outing of his US PGA season. At the beginning of the year, like most pros, he had carefully prepared his schedule to take in all the Majors, the other big tournaments, and fulfill his obligations with the requisite number of appearances on both Tours.
But things took a funny turn along the way, including a near-£1million pay-day at the big WGC event and, in May, fighting his way to the very top of the world rankings. And the winnings kept rolling in - first in the Barclays Scottish Open, second at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio, eighth in the US PGA Championship and tied for third in the Deutsch Bank Championship.
Suddenly, Mr Consistency (we could also call him Mr Rugged Constitution for his non-stop globe-trotting without ever succumbing to jet-lag or worse) was top of the money list on both sides of the pond and able to contemplate something no other golfer has ever really come close to achieving - finishing No 1 on both Tours.
And the lure has proved irresistible. Instead of taking a few weeks off to recharge his batteries for the end-of-season events (the South African Open, Dubai World Championship and Australian Masters), he has flown in fresh from his caddie's wedding (bag-man John McLaren, by the way, DOES have the week off to enjoy his honeymoon!) for an event that usually has more significance at the bottom of the Tour list than the top.
Scenario
Traditionally, this Disney tournament, that brings the curtain down on the US season, provides a gentle stroll in the sun for a handful of top pros - and a mad scramble for the bottom feeders desperate to hold on to their tour cards.
Instead, the usual scenario has been usurped by a regular head-to-head, mano e mano duel thanks to Donald's consistency and Simpson's sudden burst-from-the-pack brilliance (four top-five finishes in his last six outings, including two wins).
Last week, while Donald was toasting McLaren's nuptials (and you just KNOW Frankie Howerd could have got a big laugh out of that), Simpson finished second in the McGladrey Classic to bag the small amount of $432,000 and go top of the list.
Considering the gauntlet well and truly thrown down, the British ace was a late, late entry for the Disney event. Immediately followed by the even later, even later appearance of his chief rival. Game on, as they say.
Now, the scenario is relatively simple - win, and Luke claims the year's top spot, and probably wins the US Player of the Year award as well. Second might well be good enough, too, but, in his own words, "third place isn't going to get it done."
For TV honchos it was a combination made in heaven, hence Simpson and Donald will be paired for the opening two rounds on Thursday and Friday, playing first the mighty Magnolia course - all 7,516 yards of it - and then the challenging Palm, a tad shorter at 7,010 yards but rated by Golf Digest one of America's Top 20.
And, given that all this was happening on my doorstep (it takes about 10 minutes to drive to either course), I figured it was well worth stepping away from my usual gridiron beat to take the pulse, first-hand, of this remarkable golfing quest.
Eager
Donald was first up, looking as if he had come straight from the practice range, a slight sheen of perspiration on his boyish features, but relaxed, personable and clearly eager to 'bring it on' (his words on Twitter earlier this week).
He said: "The 'bring it on' comment was more of a motivation for myself just to come out and try to win the tournament. No-one has ever accomplished this particular goal and it would be a pretty cool achievement.
"I'm probably going to need to win the tournament to be sure so, in that way, it feels a bit like the FedEx Cup and the Tour Championship. But I feel pretty good about it. I'm looking forward to playing directly against him for the first two rounds - it will be nice to keep an eye on what he's doing!
"Obviously he's played very well in the past two months and made it tough for me. But I wanted to make a concerted effort to win both money lists after the WGC Match Play and now I'm in a position to do it."
The 26-year-old wunderkind Simpson - all 6ft 2in and 12½st of him - bounced in almost immediately afterwards, all puppyish enthusiasm and gung-ho charm. After just three full years on the US Tour, he has burned with fireball brightness this season and, more importantly, in the past four-plus months when he has played in 13 events and finished outside the top 20 only twice (a 22nd at the Tour Championship and a shock missed cut in the PGA Championship).
He was fulsome in his praise of his British rival, insisting: "It's clear Luke is the best player in the world. To play both Tours in a year and to have had the success he's had is really incredible. He's just done an incredible job of balancing it all, especially since he has a family and they've been travelling with him.
"It'll obviously be a whole new situation for me but I think my No 1 challenge will be not to get too involved in what he's doing. I'll need to take the Tiger Woods mindset into the first couple of days and just focus extra hard on what I'm doing and how I want to play the two courses. It's going to be fun."
Fun? Well, maybe if you're whizzing around the rides of the nearby Magic Kingdom (with which, the tournament shares a car park). But I fancy the next four days are going to be a bit more than a stroll in the (theme) park for these two.
It's a delicious prospect for the crowds who will turn up in the Florida sun this weekend, and especially for the armchair viewers (as it's live on Sky Sports each day).
Just don't call it a Mickey Mouse showdown.
