Donald a survivor in the deep end

Mission nearly accomplished as Britain's young rookie adjusts to a hard life on the US Tour

All being well, by next Sunday night Luke Donald will be able to breathe a massive sigh of relief and confirm his status on the US PGA Tour for next season. Having decided to spend his rookie season as a professional on the American circuit, rather than at home in Europe, Donald's main goal for the season was to avoid a trip back to the Qualifying School – after surviving the gruelling marathon last year, Donald felt that one visit was quite enough.

While the 24-year-old from Beaconsfield will not be gracing next week's US Tour Championship, where only the top 30 players on the Tour's money list receive invitations, his achievement should not be underestimated.

He went into this weekend's Buick Challenge, where he made his ninth successive cut, in 105th place on the list. A steady performance here and at the Southern Farm Bureau Classic – the last event for the rank and file of the Tour - should see him retain his place in the top 125 to secure his playing card for next season. Last year only 11 of the 35 players who had come through the previous year's Qualifying School retained their playing privileges, and not all of them were fresh out of college or playing in a foreign country, as Donald is.

One of the stars of the college circuit when he was based at Northwestern University in Chicago, Donald felt it was only natural to stay in the States after turning professional. He has been consistent rather than spectacular, but that approach still leaves him looking down at the likes of Notah Begay, John Daly, Carlos Franco, Per-Ulrik Johansson and David Frost, all of whom are currently lower on the money list. The 125th man earned $406,352 (£270,900) in 2001 and this season the bar will fall more than $100,000 higher than that. Donald has so far collected $612,028 (£412,680), a tidy sum for a rookie. By comparison, Nick Dougherty, who like Donald turned professional after playing in the 2001 Walker Cup, is in 33rd position on the European Order Of Merit with £349,428.

But Donald is not entirely satisfied. "I feel I could have done better so far," he said. "It's been a steady year. I've made quite a few cuts and have been playing steadily. I just haven't really broken through."

The evidence that he has yet to make that great leap forwards is provided by the simple fact that he has yet to have a top 10 finish. He has made 22 cuts in 29 events, including the last eight, and finished in the top 25 10 times, but he has not made it on to the leaderboard at the crucial time on Sunday. His best finish was 13th at the Hawaiian Open right at the start of the year.

It is something that has begun to frustrate Donald and he puts it down to pressing too hard at critical moments. "I think if I can just play my own golf without worrying about anybody else, I'm going to be successful out here," he said. "It's when I keep looking at the scoreboards and pressing too hard on the golf course that I get myself in trouble. If I can just play solid golf every day, then I'm going to do fine."

Donald played seven tournaments last year after turning professional but has still found the transition to playing a full season on the Tour difficult. "Playing a few events at the end of last year really helped me coming into this year, because I was able to see what it was all about and what I needed to do to my game to be successful here.

"But the biggest thing I have found this year is that it is very hard to pace yourself out here. It's easy to try and play every week. It's very tempting to do that, and I kind of did that at the beginning of the year. If I went on a stretch where I played four in a row, I found that the fourth tournament was just a bit too much for me. I think it's very important to pace yourself and be very patient to play well every tournament."

However, the experience of being a rookie is something Donald relates back to his first year at college. "It's all about getting used to life out here and knowing things like where to stay. All of the little things you are learning about for the first time add up to making it harder out here.

"I think it has been somewhat similar to my freshman year in college, where everything was a little bit new to me. I had just come over from England and I had never won. My second year, though, I won five times, so I'm hoping that will happen out here."

A tournament victory may not be that farfetched a goal. Bob Burns, who held off a charging Tiger Woods to win the Disney Classic last week, was 118th on the money list before he became the 16th first-time winner on the US Tour this season.

The myriad of statistics collated by the US Tour suggest two areas where Donald may have to improve to join the winner's circle. While he is around 30th in both driving accuracy and greens in regulation, Donald ranks 155th in driving distance and 164th in putting. Those two weaknesses mean he rates a lowly 178th in par-five birdie conversions. As steady as his game is, at some point he has to gain a few extra yards off the tee, to which end he has switched to a new ball which gives him an extra 15 yards, and his putter has to get hot.

But these are considerations for the winter. The "steady as she goes" approach this season has shown Donald is a swimmer rather than a sinker.