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Luke Donald has attracted an unwanted and probably harsh reputation for being a golfer who has picked up decent cheques without dirtying his hands.

The Englishman's career has been littered with many a lucrative finish without properly challenging for the title. But Donald's second place at the PGA Championship does not fall into that category.

On this occasion he was in the thick of it throughout the tournament and it would take a hard heart not to be impressed with his tenacity throughout his final round on the toughened West Course.

As he stood on the 17th tee Donald knew a birdie at one of the two closing par 5s would be enough for to deny Simon Khan his heart-warming win and it proved a terrible moment to hit his worst drive of the day.

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confessed to a nervous flight over from the United States and it had nothing to do with the ash cloud that threatened his punctuality for this week's

Els's design company is responsible for the wholesale changes that have been made to the West Course for this year's running of the European Tour's flagship event and he knows reaction from his fellow players will be mixed.

The South African has twin worries. One is how the golfers will regard the radical design changes he has made, with 17 of the 18 holes significantly altered. The other is the condition of the revamped layout, particularly in the wake of such a cold winter.

Els admitted that as recently as a fortnight ago it was "touch and go" regarding the conditioning of the course. Thankfully those fears have been allayed.

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There were more questions than answers after the where Lee Westwood again failed to secure a big title from a strong position and for the first time in his professional career.

A month on from , Westwood put together a disappointing final round that failed to capitalise on holding the 54 hole lead.

Woods, meanwhile, left observers bemused by a long-standing injury that he denied existed only two days earlier.

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Putting into its proper context has been uppermost in golfing minds since that hyperbole-filled Sunday that announced his coming of age two days early.

As McIlroy was celebrating his 21st birthday on the Tuesday of week, his ears must have been burning with the same heat generated by the sensational golf that won him .

The Northern Ireland star is the talk of the game, although it must be added he shares the limelight with who set the tone for the weekend with his .

Ishikawa's achievement should not be underestimated: the average score on the day he won was just above 71, and he was more than 13 shots better. But nor should we underplay the scale of McIlroy's triumph either.

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