Dougherty turned professional in 2001 and gained membership to the European Tour for 2002 via the final qualifying school. In his début season he finished 36th on the Order of Merit, and was named the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year. He was hindered by glandular fever in 2003, and his 2004 season was also disappointing when he slipped to 97th on the Order of Merit. In early 2005 he earned his first victory on the European Tour at the Caltex Masters in Singapore, going on to reach the top 100 of the Official World Golf Rankings in the middle of the year, and ended it in 15th place on the final European Tour Order of Merit. He also made a strong start to the 2006 season before struggling later in the year. Dougherty would bounce back in 2007, and was the leader after the first round of the 107th US Open at Oakmont Country Club with a two under par round of 68. He eventually finished the tournament in a tie for seventh place. This is, to date, his best finish in a major championship, and was also enough to gain automatic entry into the following years championship and the US Masters. Later that year he secured his second European Tour victory at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, and finished the season placed 11th on the Order of Merit. After a disappointing 2008 season which was marred by the sudden death of his mother, Dougherty recorded his third European Tour victory at the 2009BMW International Open in Munich, Germany. He was three shots behind 54-hole leader Retief Goosen going into the final round. He shot a final round of 64 and ended with a one stroke victory over Rafael Echenique, who made an albatross 2 on the par-5 18th, and by four over Goosen. The win secured Dougherty a spot in his first major of 2009, The Open Championship at Turnberry in July. Dougherty ended up losing his European Tour card in 2011 after making only one cut during 32 events. Although he finished 45th at the Omega European Masters with a first day 63 helping him to prize money of 10,600 euros, it was not enough to retain his 2012 tour card. He attended the European Qualifying School in late 2011, but was unsuccessful and consequently settled for membership on the Challenge Tour. At the end of 2013 he found himself at Q school on the Challenge Tour where he stated he was much happier with his game than he had been for a while, but success continued to elude him. Doughtery has not played a European Tour-sanctioned event since 2016.
Broadcasting
After his retirement from playing Dougherty moved into the media with a position at Sky Sports Golf as a presenter.
