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Luke Donald says becoming the world's number one golfer has given him the belief he can win his first major title in the near future.

Donald's unflinching consistency took him to new heights in 2011 as he beat Lee Westwood in a play-off to win the PGA Championship at Wentworth and overtake his countryman as the world number one.

The Hemel Hempstead golfer then became the first man to win the US and European money lists in one year after accumulating £4.19m in winning the US money list and £3,632,685 from the European Tour.

Donald, whose best finish to date in golf's big four annual events is joint-third in the Masters and PGA Championship, said: "I look forward to next year, trying to win a major.

"It's something I would dearly love to do, it's something that's missing off my resume but I'm my own worst critic.

"I'll be trying my hardest but I really do have the belief and will and I know that if I can get to number one then I can definitely win a major."

To cap an historic year the Englishman was given the PGA Player of the Year award, becoming only the second Englishman, after Nick Faldo in 1990, to clinch the honour, while he also claimed the Vardon Trophy for the lowest-scoring average on the Tour.

Donald added: "It's been an unbelievable run of events, obviously getting to number one, winning at Wentworth. It's been a fantastic run and I've loved every minute of it.

"I'm not sure many people would have thought I could become number one because I'm not really a modern player.

"I'm more of a controlled player, I use my short game and my putting as my skills and I've been able to really capitalise on a lot of great consistency."

Stories from Luke Donald's year:

Donald seals US & European double

Double award success for Donald