Time on his side in quest to become No. 1, says Donald after near-miss

Luke Donald believes he will get plenty more chances to become world No. 1 after just missing out on Sunday.

The Englishman had to win the Heritage in South Carolina to reach top spot for the first time, but came up agonizingly short after losing to Brandt Snedeker on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff.

"It was going to be some big rewards if I won today," said Donald after his chip to extend the playoff lipped out at the 18th hole and meant fellow Englishman Lee Westwood returned to the top of the world rankings. "But I'll try and find the positives from this week and move on to next week. I came pretty close ... but I've still got some time on my side."

Donald has been charging up the world rankings over the last 12 months. He bagged big points for his victory in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February and added more with a tie for fourth in the Masters. But the 33-year-old wants to keep pushing rather than see the top spot as the ultimate target.

"Certainly No. 1 is not the final goal," said Donald. "It's a constant travel. You're constantly moving forward in this game. To be No. 1 would be great, but it's not everything.

"It certainly would be a tick in the box and it would be something great to talk to the grandkids (about) in 30 years' time and say that you were the best in the world, but I still have a lot of chances to do that."

Donald had been bidding to become the fourth world No. 1 in less than six months.

"Certainly there are a lot of people who have a chance to be No. 1 right now,” he said. “I think it's a fun time in golf.

"Obviously Tiger dominated for a number of years and no one was close to him,” he added. “But now it's a little bit more of a race. That's kind of fun for the spectators."