(Shamelessly plagiarized from my blog.)

In the not-so-distant past, the men’s professional golfing circuit was dominated by a man that everyone agreed was the best player in the world at that moment. People expected to see his name on the top of most tournament leader boards, which eventually translated to similar success atop the official money list and OWGR.

Now, following a few ‘changings of the guard’ in both aforementioned rankings, Luke Donald is the new king of men’s professional golf. Furthermore, he even added the European Tour Money List #1-spot just to drive that point home further. So now can people finally take notice?

A few months ago I wrote a piece about Donald just prior to him making his run at history by finishing his season atop both the PGA and European TOUR Money Lists. In that article, Donald is described as wanting nothing more than to win the FedEx Cup and the money list titles were almost secondary. Heading into the final tournament for each respective Tour, Donald would have to overcome a surging Webb Simpson in the States and the young superstar Rory McIlroy overseas. As both season-ending tournaments played out, Donald would prevail (as we now know). But even in the months leading up to this last week and chance at history, I never got the impression that Donald was receiving the attention he deserved.

In fact, the most recent level of attention Donald received was because of something he mentioned regarding the former World #1 I vaguely mentioned in this article’s introduction. That’s right; it took Donald to say something slightly out-of-character (presumably) about the biggest hot-topic player in the game in order to find his way into headlines once again. Articles would then be written that simply mentioned his run at history as an afterthought while the main subject remained a player that has never come close to achieving what Donald has now accomplished. What on earth has Donald done to deserve that kind of treatment?

As my personal experiences with writing about golf continue to grow and develop – arguably, of course – I am quickly beginning to realize the frustration some fans must feel when greatness is overshadowed by an overwhelming water cooler mentality. Another example of this involves the great Yani Tseng, who has also undeservedly fallen into the “Afterthought Zone” on the LPGA Tour (she's won 12 tournaments this season). In other words, if rumors or scandal aren’t the underlying topic of a story, then apparently nobody wants to hear about it.

Have we entered a time when people prefer to hear stories of weakness rather than greatness? Would fans prefer to see examples of famous athletes being humbled by questionable behavior at home rather than being praised for their abilities at work? Does misery really love company that much?

Luke Donald has shown everyone – whether he realizes it or not – that talent is comprised of more than just playing ability or the desire to win. It takes integrity, consistency, patience, and diligence.

Oh, and staying out of the spotlight may also help.

Congratulations Luke, on a job well done.