AP

After a disappointing Friday-Saturday stretch at the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic in which world No. 1 Luke Donald could only muster 3-under par, Donald seemed to have given way to Webb Simpson as the PGA Tour Money List winner.

Needing to finish in the top-2 while having Simpson finish outside of the top eight seemed a tall order, and even more so through eight holes on Sunday when Donald found himself well back of the leaders.

Going out in 34, Donald still needed to do something extraordinary to put himself in contention to win the tournament and the money title.

Six straight birdies might do the trick.

Donald catapulted up the leaderboard and won the tournament by two strokes with his final-round 64. Simpson finished in a tie for sixth, but with Donald receiving the winners’ check, he would have had to do no worse than second to hold on to the money title, which Luke also took with the victory.

“It’s hard to put into words,” said Donald during his post-win presser. “You know, obviously I came here and I told you guys on Wednesday that the goal was to win.  You know, nothing was really going to be good enough other than that.

“I think this is probably one of the most satisfying wins of my career just because of that.  It was kind of do or die.  Obviously it wasn’t looking great after the 8th hole, but I knew I was going to get on to a run.”

The run he talked about covered six holes and 18 strokes. No one in the top 15 played that stretch in any better than 3-under par. The win was Donald’s first stroke-play victory on the PGA Tour since 2006.

“This means a lot…To do it (make birdies) when I needed to, to know that under pressure I was able to pull off the shots when I needed to to hole the putts, and obviously to get ahead of Webb (Simpson) on the Money List and win this event.

“This is obviously the first stroke‑play event I’ve won in the U.S. for five years, too, which is pretty special.  It’s just knowing that I had to do it and being able to do it, and all of it kind of went along with, you know, picking up the first place.  It’s very, very special.”

Already having locked up the European Tour’s money list, Donald was a late entry into the Disney for the sole purpose of dethroning Simpson as the PGA Tour’s high money earner.

As if winning two things on Sunday weren’t enough, Donald made his case for the Player of Year that much stronger with his performance. We all know that golf is a “what have you done for me lately” game and with Keegan Bradley’s PGA Championship win a month old, the drama that Donald and Simpson brought to the money title shrinks Bradley’s accomplishments.

The PGA Tour announced that they would not be sending out the POY ballots until after the HSBC Champions in two weeks. With it being a non-Ryder Cup year, the PGA decided to wait until after the event in Shanghai, giving Bradley, Donald and Simpson another chance to make their case for Player of the Year.

The Disney CMNHC being the last tournament of the year, Donald also officially won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest average on the PGA Tour and gained a five-year exemption for winning the money title, as if he needed it.

Already No. 1 in the world, Donald only solidified his position and put some more space in between himself and No. 2 Lee Westwood. Donald will take a few weeks off before heading to China for the HSBC where he is certain to be featured in one of their goofy promos.