Keegan Bradley vs Luke Donald: How Their Careers Compare

Both Team USA Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and his Team Europe counterpart Luke Donald have built enviable careers in the game.

Between the two of them, there have been wins on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, a Major title and a World No.1 spot, among other achievements.

In the biennial match, both have experienced success, too, in Bradley’s case as a player, while for Donald, glory had come both as a player and as captain ahead of the 2025 edition.

Donald enters the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black as the veteran of the two, aged 47, compared to Bradley’s 39.

The Englishman turned pro in 2001 after a college career at Northwestern, while Bradley didn’t leave the amateur game behind until seven years later, following a spell at St. John’s University.

But how did their careers unfold, and how do they compare? Let’s take a look at their big career milestones to find out.

Amateur Achievements

Donald had a glittering amateur career, including the individual NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships title in 1999, while the same year, he won the Fred Haskins Award, recognizing him as the most outstanding collegiate player in the US.

Bradley also had a successful amateur career, including nine collegiate titles representing St. John’s University before graduating in 2008.

Major Records

Ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup, Bradley had made 49 Major appearances, while Donald had made 59 starts in the big tournaments.

However, one stat works decisively in Bradley’s favor, and it came in his maiden Major appearance – a win.

Bradley achieved his one Major victory in the 2011 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club, where he beat Jason Dufner in a three-hole playoff.

By the time Bradley holed his winning putt, Donald had just completed his 34^th Major, but a victory hadn’t come, and he remains without a title in one of the big events 14 years on.

One Major stat where Donald is ahead of Bradley comes in the number of top 10s achieved, with Donald having racked up eight to Bradley’s five.

Career Wins

Bradley’s PGA Championship win wasn’t his first as a professional, but his third, with victories coming at the 2009 Texas Honing Open on the NGA Hooters Tour and the 2011 HP Byron Nelson Championship on the PGA Tour beforehand.

He has gone on to claim 13 professional titles, most recently over Tommy Fleetwood at the 2025 Travelers Championship, with eight overall on the PGA Tour.

Donald’s maiden professional win came in 2002 at the Southern Farm Bureau Classic (now the Sanderson Farms Championship).

Nowadays, he has 17 professional wins, among them five on the PGA Tour and seven on the DP World Tour.

However, the most recent was a long time ago, on the Japan Golf Tour at the 2013 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament.

World Ranking

Despite lacking a Major title, it didn’t stop Luke Donald becoming the 15^th player to reach the top of the world rankings, achieving it on May 29th, 2011. He stayed there for the next 40 weeks before enjoying three further spells as World No.1 in 2012.

Overall, Donald has spent 56 weeks at the top of the rankings, with his last visit there ending on August 11, 2012.

Donald has also spent 220 weeks in the world’s top 10, albeit with his last appearance in it ending on August 4^th, 2013.

Unlike Donald, Bradley has never made it to the summit, but his playing career is still soaring, with a career-high of seventh achieved on June 22^nd this year, following his win at the Travelers Championship.

Overall, appearances in the top 10 of the world rankings have been far harder to come by for Bradley, despite first breaching it on March 24^th, 2013. Indeed, ahead of the Ryder Cup, Bradley has only spent nine weeks in the world’s top 10.

Ryder Cup Playing Records

Bradley opted against picking himself as a wildcard for the 2025 team, but he has made two previous playing appearances. The first came in 2012, when the US was stunned by Europe’s fightback to win 14.5-13.5 at Medinah.

On that occasion, Bradley’s record was an impressive 3-1-0. Two years later, he was again on the team for the contest at Gleneagles, recording a 1-2-0 record as the US was defeated, this time by 16.5-11.5. His overall Ryder Cup record is 4-3-0.

Donald has yet to find himself on the losing team at the Ryder Cup. As well as his successful captaincy of the Europeans in 2023, he has also played in the match four times.

The first of those came in 2004, when he emerged with a 2–1–1 record as Europe won 18.5-9.5 at Oakland Hills.

Two years later, the Ryder Cup was held at The K Club, with Europe winning by the same score and Donald contributing a 100% winning record of 3-0-0.

In 2010, he helped the team beat the Americans 14.5-13.5 at Celtic Manor, producing a record of 3-1-0, while he was also part of the aforementioned Miracle of Medinah in 2012, when Europe’s famous comeback win saw Donald contribute a 2-2-0 record.

Overall, Donald’s Ryder Cup playing record stands at a hugely impressive 10-4-1.

Career Earnings

The pair’s career earnings are not too far apart.

Bradley headed to Bethpage Black with career earnings of $56,124,514 on the PGA Tour, with overall earnings throughout his career reportedly over $66m.

As for Donald, he has PGA Tour earnings of $37,713,594, while he has made approximately $20m on the DP World Tour, pushing him close to $60m in earnings across the two circuits.

Donald's PGA Tour earnings were boosted by his brilliant 2011 season, where he was the PGA Tour’s money list winner with prize money of $6,683,214.

He was also the European Tour's money list winner that year, claiming €5,323,400 (around $6.25m).

Other Achievements And Awards

Each player has had a career peppered with other significant achievements.

Bradley’s 2011 PGA Championship win elevated him into very exclusive company, making him just the eighth player in the men’s game to win on his Major debut. No one has achieved it since.

That year was also significant for Bradley as it brought his first PGA Tour win, at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, on his way to being named the tour’s Rookie of the Year.

As a European, Donald isn’t eligible for the Presidents Cup, but Bradley is, and he has also played for the US twice against the Internationals, in 2013 and 2024, winning both times with an overall record of 4-3-1.

The year Bradley arrived on the PGA Tour scene with a bang, Donald was already an established pro, and he, too, had a 2011 to remember.

Among the accolades he won that year were being named PGA Tour Player of the Year, PGA Player of the Year, the European Tour’s Race to Dubai winner, the circuit’s Golfer of the Year, and its Players’ Player of the Year.

Donald also won the Byron Nelson Award and the PGA of America's Vardon Trophy in 2011.