Jamie Donaldson finished tied for runner-up at the WGC-Cadillac Championship last week. His $764,000 check put him well over the $610,000 that Peter Hanson won in 2013 to finish No. 125 on the PGA Tour money list.

That is important because, it earns Donaldson a Special Temporary Membership to the PGA Tour. Players are only allowed to enter six tour events on sponsor’s exemptions as a non-tour member. His new status permits him to enter an unlimited number of PGA Tour tournaments for the balance of 2014.

The Welshman turned professional in 2000 and is realizing success relatively late in his career. He had three wins on the Challenge Tour, but did not get his first win on the European Tour until the 2012 Irish Open. He won again at the 2013 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship over a field that included Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

After bouncing up and down between the Challenge Tour and the European Tour for most of his career, Donaldson is finally healthy and has played solid golf over the past three years. He finished No. 19 in the Race to Dubai in 2012, improved to No. 5 in 2013 and currently leads the 2014 Race to Dubai.

His impressive finish at the WGC-Cadillac Championship will allow him to spend more time in America and concentrate on the major championships.

In fact, he has rented a house from Ian Poulter in Lake Nona outside of Orlando and will spend the next three months playing golf on the PGA Tour.

Donaldson also is No. 2 on the European points list for the Ryder Cup and No. 6 on the World points list. Playing in the U.S. may be a gamble for him to make Paul McGinley’s European Ryder Cup Team.

He is 38-years-old and feels he needs to maximize his earning potential now while he is in the middle of this stretch of spectacular play.

If he continues to perform like he did at Trump National Doral, he will qualify easily for the Ryder Cup team and earn full PGA Tour membership next year.