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South Carolina - England's Luke Donald was oh-so-close to claiming golf's World No. 1 ranking, but he took the near miss from a dramatic playoff loss on Sunday at the US PGA Heritage in stride.
American Brandt Snedeker defeated Donald for the title with a par on the third extra hole after topping Donald's 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole and his six-foot par putt on the second.
Donald's 15-foot chip for par on the third playoff hole slammed into the back of the cup and bounced out, leaving him second and allowing England's Lee Westwood to claim the top ranking once again.
"I came pretty close, yeah, but I've still got some time on my side," Donald said.
"Certainly No. 1 is not the final goal. To be No. 1 would be great but it's not everything. It certainly would be a tick in the box. It would be something great to talk to the grandkids in 30 years' time and say that you were the best in the world, but I still have a lot of chances to do that."
Since Tiger Woods surrendered the top spot six months ago, Westwood and Germany's Martin Kaymer have traded the ranking summit while Woods, Phil Mickelson and Graeme McDowell have been within reach with a victory as well.
"Certainly there's a lot of people that have a chance to be No. 1 right now. I think it's a fun time in golf," Donald said.
"Obviously Tiger dominated for a number of years and no one was close to him. But now it's a little bit more of a race and just a little added thing to the side that's kind of fun for the spectators."
Donald tried not to let the possibilities add to the tension as he chased Snedeker's clubhouse lead. Donald birdied the par-5 13th and parred in with some tense chips and putts to set up the playoff.
"It's hard to put that out of your mind, but for sure it was going to be some big rewards if I won," Donald said. "I'll try and find the positives from this week and move on to next week."
Donald's best chance during the final holes to claim the crown without a playoff came at the 16th but he missed a six-foot birdie putt.
"Hit a great shot into 16, had a good chance there," Donald said. "I thought if I made that putt I could win the tournament."
His biggest regret was his last approach at the 18th during his second playoff attempt at the hole when his ball plugged in a bunker and his blast out left him 15 feet away on the edge on the green.
"Obviously not a great lie," Donald said. "It plugged in the bunker. Played it pretty well and just came out left. Came out on line it would probably be 6, 7 feet. It's hard to control those shots.
"I gave the chip a run, it was just going a little too fast and caught the right edge."
