DANIEL WILLETT SHOWS HIS WORLD CLASS
IN WINNING THE SPANISH TITLE

Walker Cup player Daniel Willett from Sheffield, No 2 in the R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings, turned in a brilliant performance today (Sunday) to beat home hope Jordi Gardia Pinto by 5 and 3 in the 36-hole final of the Spanish men's open amateur golf championship at Pals Golf Club, near Gerona.
Willett, the 19-year-old English amateur champion, was seven under par for the holes played in beating the No 6 seed who had ended hopes of an all-English final by first beating Ed Richardson in the Saturday morning quarter-finals and then ousting Eddie Pepperell 3 and 2 in the afternoon semi-finals.
Willett was twice winner on the US college circuit while a student at Jacksonville State University, Alabama.
A bonus for following in the footsteps of such players as Jose-Maria Olazabal (twice in the early 1980s) and Sergio Garcia (1998) as winner of the Spanish open amateur title is that Willett gains a place in a European Tour event - which is where his future lies surely, sooner rather than later.
Willett will get an invitation to play in the Spanish Open at Seville from May 1 to 4.

Weekend results:
Quarter-finals
J L Lazaro (Spa) bt P Cutler (Ire) retired.
D Willett (Eng) bt B Hebert (Fra) 2 and 1.
J Garcia Pinto (Spa) bt E Richardson (Eng) 2 and 1.
E Pepperell (Eng) bt G Cambis (Fra) 2 holes.
Semi-finals
Willett bt Lazaro 6 and 5.
Garcia Pinto bt Pepperell 3 and 2.
Final (36 holes)
Willett bt Garcia Pinto 5 and 3.