Luke Donald's Open hopes hang in the balance at Wentworth

Former world number one Luke Donald must put in a strong performance at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth if he is to qualify for the 2015 Open Championship at St Andrews

Luke Donald must put in a strong performance this week at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth if he is to qualify for the 2015 Open Championship at St Andrews.

Even though the U.S. Open falls a month before The Open, qualifying for the two majors is in a different order.

The Open takes a large portion of its field from the top 50 in the world rankings published after the BMW PGA Championship, and currently sitting at world number 60, Donald will need another good week on the West Course at Wentworth to make it to St Andrews.

The Englishman has qualified for every Open since 2002, barring the 2008 edition which he due to an injury.

Should Donald not repeat his Wentworth heroics – the former world number one won the European Tour’s flagship event in 2011 and 2012 – he will have to secure a top finish at selected other tournaments or be ranked high enough on the European Tour or PGA Tour money lists.

As for the U.S. Open, being played this year at Chambers Bay, the cut-off to reach the world top 60 and earn an exemption is May 25th, which is after the two Texas events on the PGA Tour, and after the Irish Open on the European Tour, leaving Donald in danger of missing both the mid-season majors.