Donald quickly reclaims world No 1 ranking

The Englishman needed a win in Florida to reclaim top spot from Ryder Cup team-mate Rory McIlroy and he did just that by holding his nerve to win a four-man play-off.

Robert Garrigus, Jim Furyk and Sang-Moon Bae were the players edged out by Donald after the quartet had finished the fourth round on 13 under par.

A run of five birdies in the first 11 holes of his final round moved Donald into contention, before he consolidated with seven successive pars to make sure of a 16th top-10 finish in his last 22 events.

He hit an excellent approach shot on the first hole of the play-off with a seven iron from the rough – and holed the putt to make sure of the victory.

Robert Garrigus had also given himself a birdie opening but the American’s chance had gone when the putt went past the hole.

Donald’s victory made it three European victories in a row in America after McIlroy triumphed at the Honda Classic and Justin Rose did likewise at the Cadillac Championship.

Donald admitted the win was a morale booster ahead of the Masters. He said: “I feel like I’ve achieved a lot in my career but this is perfect preparation. I’ve got two weeks off now and can look forward to Augusta.

“I certainly was a lot more nervous about getting to No 1 the first time. This time it wasn’t my focus – I was focused on winning the tournament and it all worked out.”

Missing a four-foot putt on the final green has left Ernie Els with a mountain to climb again if he is to play in the Masters.

Els moves up only six spots to 62nd in the world after his fifth-placed finish in Florida. He was leading until he bogeyed the last two holes.

The sport’s top 50 are invited to Augusta but the former world No 1, twice a runner-up there, can still make it back by winning either the Arnold Palmer Invitational starting on Thursday or next week’s Houston Open.

Compatriot Retief Goosen, who led with a round to play at Innisbrook, dropped to 20th with a 75 and slips a place on the rankings to 53rd. That ends his chances of playing the Masters because he is now having back treatment.

Leading world rankings: 1 L Donald 10.03pts, 2 R McIlroy 9.85, 3 L Westwood 8.16, 4 M Kaymer 5.87, 5 S Stricker 5.81, 6 C Schwartzel 5.25, 7 W Simpson 5.13, 8 Jn Rose 5.11, 9 Adam Scott 4.94, 10 J Day 4.93, 11 D Johnson 4.90, 12 H Mahan 4.90, 13 P Mickelson 4.81, 14 M Kuchar 4.64, 15 B Haas 4.57, 16 B Watson 4.39, 17 G McDowell 4.35, 18 T Woods 4.26, 19 Nk Watney 4.26, 20 K Bradley 4.16. Other: 35 S Dyson.