England’s Luke Donald will tee-up in this week’s 39th Ryder Cup and the only player among the two dozen contestants enjoying ‘home ground’ advantage.

Donald has made his home in Chicago where he resides with his American-born wife, Diane and young family.

But the England golfer enjoyed connections with the Windy City long before that.

Luke Donald and the only player competing at Medinah enjoying ‘home town’ advantage. (Photo – Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ie)

Donald had spent four years at Northwestern, winning an NCAA title and graduating with a degree in art.

His wife was living in Chicago when they met and they now reside on Chicago’s North Side.

So how strange is it that Donald should be the only Chicago based player competing this week.

“Unique, isn’t it?” said Donald.

“The way I look at it is the home team has the biggest advantage,” he said. “Just taking away 1 percent of the crowd support, that’s a help to our team. … But, yeah, it’s kind of odd. I don’t play Medinah that much. … Staying in a hotel 20 miles away from where you live is kind of strange, but that’s the way it goes.”

Donald is very much English. He just happens to love Chicago, which is why he never left.

“I think you become familiar with a place,” Donald said. “I had a lot of friends. My coach, Pat, was probably a big reason, too. I started dating Diane a couple months before I got my tour card, but we met when I was in college.

“I didn’t really have any reason to go anywhere else, other than the weather. But you always stay where you feel comfortable. And I felt very comfortable in Chicago.”

This will be the first time Donald will compete in a Ryder Cup on American soil. He made his debut at Oakland Hills outside Detroit in 2004 as a captain’s pick, though not many paid attention, and four years ago he was overlooked as a wildcard pick.”

Donald has since won five times on the PGA Tour while it was only in recent months he lost the world No. 1 ranking to Rory McIlroy after holding it for 56 weeks.

Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros are the only players who had been No. 1 longer since the ranking began in 1986.

Donald remains active with Northwestern, particularly the golf team, where he teamed with Kentwood graduate Jess Daley, who went on to win more than $500,000 in professional tour golf.

Donald is involved with The First Tee in Chicago, along with the Ronald McDonald house. They have two young daughters, but still take time to go to restaurants, sports events, along with arts shows and museums.

“We like blending in,” said his wife, Diane.

“Everything is so easy to get to in Chicago, and it has everything. It’s kind of funny because I felt like I waited my entire life to leave Chicago, and now we have a home in Florida that’s empty half the year.

“Luke loves being here.”

However it remains to seen whether Chicago golf fans will love Donald come the start of competition on Friday.