English duo take aim at PGA playoff riches

World No. 1 Luke Donald and English compatriot Justin Rose, a winner last week, take aim at pocketing $11.4 million by winning this week's US PGA Tour Championship and the season playoff title.A field of 30 players, 11 non-Americans led by Donald and Rose, tee off Thursday at East Lake for a tournament prize of $1.4 million and if either wins he will also claim the season points playoff bonus prize of $10 million. "Last week the cheque didn't enter into my mind once until I saw the number ($1.4 million), and I was like, whoa, that's a big cheque," Rose said. "This week, it's the first time it really gets people's attention and it changes and it's a big amount of money... thinking that way about it, though, doesn't help you play better golf. "The key and the strategy still is to do what you do best, to use all your skills, to stay in the moment. What makes winning a huge challenge is to deal with the pressure of the $10 million and keep your game in shape and in check." American Webb Simpson leads the points race with compatriot Dustin Johnson second, followed by Rose, Donald and American Matt Kuchar. If anyone other than those five wins the tournament, that winner would still need the leaders to slip a bit for him to claim the bonus bonanza. "I'm not really thinking about the money," Donald said. "I'm really more concentrating on winning the tournament, picking up another trophy, all the spoils that comes with it. But the bonus money is nice."I've been very fortunate. It's not like I can't afford to buy things. I have two nice houses. I don't spend a lot of stuff on materialistic stuff." What to do with a king's ransom has not yet crossed Donald's mind, he said. "I haven't really thought if I won it what I would spend the money on, but the money is really the last thing I'm thinking about," Donald said. "It's not really the important factor for me." Donald, still seeking his first major title, admits the goal every year is to peak for the four major tournaments, but taking the top ranking might have swiped a bit of that focus. "The No. 1 goal at the beginning of this year was to be in contention for majors. In that regard I suppose it was somewhat disappointing," he said. "I had a chance in two of them, which was an improvement on previous years, but two of them weren't that great. "Maybe I played a little bit too much leading up to the US Open. I felt a little bit over-golfed. Maybe some of those other successes took away from what I was trying to ultimately achieve."Donald said the playoff finale would have importance to players even without the big bonus on offer."It's always important to have that kind of end of the year," Donald said. "After the last major, you don't want the year to go flat. For a lot of these guys, even getting to this event is important."It gets you into all the majors, it sets up your year for next year. So there's definitely some importance. "The $10 million number makes it seem a lot more special, gives it a certain wow factor." Rose, a wire-to-wire winner last week near Chicago, bolstered his confidence with his third career US triumph."Last week came out of the blue," Rose said. "So I feel better about my chances this week than I did last week based upon what just happened. That gives me confidence coming into this week for sure."