It's break time

Luke Donald has done some serious globe-trotting lately, playing six tournaments in eight weeks. After a U.S. Open that left something to be desired, Donald is going to enjoy a nice break in Italy with his wife.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

BETHESDA, Md. -- Luke Donald is definitely looking forward to a six-day vacation in Italy with his wife Diane. He needs the time off, too, after playing six of the eight weeks leading up to the U.S. Open -- in three different countries, no less.

Donald, who will return to competition in three weeks at the Barclays Scottish Open, has played extremely well during that stretch, too. In fact, he had one win and one playoff loss among eight straight top-10s on the PGA TOUR heading into Congressional, and Donald entered the U.S. Open among the favorites.

Sunday's round of 69, though, was Donald's first under par at Congressional this week. The FedExCup leader, who had tied for fourth at the Masters, ended up at 5 over and sharing 46th.

"Obviously I think the course is set up where you can make a good score," Donald said. "I mean, there were some real, say, feeder pins; the ball is collecting toward the hole. But if you obviously miss it, you have a tricky two-putt.

"… I played a little bit better today, did the things that help you to score.  I was getting up and down a few times and keeping the momentum going. Not quite the tournament I wanted, but that's the way it goes sometimes."

Donald, who ascended to world No. 1 several weeks ago, said he didn't put any extra pressure on himself this week. 

"But I think the last six or seven weeks has taken a lot out of me," the Englishman acknowledged. "I've certainly been in contention a lot, played a lot of golf in different countries, different time zones, and I probably haven't got my energy levels quite back up to where I would have liked them to be at the beginning of this week. But no excuses, I just didn't play well enough."

Rory McIlroy, on the other hand, is playing better than anyone not named Tiger Woods has ever played at a U.S. Open. Donald said seeing someone like his Ryder Cup teammate demolish the field can be uplifting and demoralizing at the same time.

"Certainly I think if I had my best golf, I could get close to that," Donald said. "I don't know; what he's doing is pretty special. In a way it's inspiring just because as a golfer it's nice to know you have that full control that he's had over the last three days. It doesn't happen very often, and it's a good feeling to have.

"I hope he still has it today. The course is really set up well, but it's also set up where someone could make a charge, so he needs to go out and continue to play like he is."