WORLD number one Luke Donald has been tipped by York’s Simon Dyson to land his first major championship.

As the world’s best golfers gather for tomorrow’s US Open at The Congressional course in Maryland, Dyson said pundits should look no further than his former Walker Cup team-mate to capture the title.

And his decision was not simply down to he and Donald being long-time friends since their amateur days.

“Luke is full of confidence since winning the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and taking the number one slot from Lee Westwood,” said Dyson, who was next on the BMW leader-board behind the top two players in the world that day. “I tipped Luke to beat Westy in the sudden-death shoot-out and I fancy Luke again to justify his world ranking and win over the next four days.”

Dyson was also revelling in the renaissance of the European Tour and its status with no fewer than six Europeans currently in the world’s top ten rankings.

Said world number 70 Dyson: “Having Luke and Lee at the top of the order then others like Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell (last year’s US Open champion), Rory McIlroy and Paul Casey there is just such a big boost for Europe.”

When the action starts, Donald, Westwood and Kaymer – the world’s top three – will play together in the first two rounds.