Danny Willett (Getty Images) dons the Green Jacket as 2016 Masters winner
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Yorkshireman Danny Willett, Sheffield-born 28 years ago, was left to reflect on the most remarkable 12 days of his life as he followed up becoming a father for the first time with winning a Green Jacket at the Masters Tournament.
The Englishman had stressed in the months building up to the season's first Major Championship that he would not take up his place in the field if wife Nicole had not yet given birth by the time Masters week rolled around, with the baby due on April 10.
Zachariah James duly arrived on March 29, and 12 days later dad produced a brilliant closing 67 to hold off the challenge of Lee Westwood and defending champion Jordan Speith to win his first Major Championship.
Willett concedes that the days that followed the birth were not
necessarily the greatest preparation for a golf tournament, but as he
sat in the press room at Augusta National, it was clear he would not
have changed a thing.
"Words can't describe what I'm feeling right now, but words definitely can't describe how I was feeling last Tuesday when I got to hold something that me and my wife have made. It's just been incredibly surreal," he said.
"I'm just looking forward to getting back home and spending some time with them.
"To win golf tournaments on Tour is what we dream of doing. It's what you practice for and it's what you play for.
You dream about these kind of days, but for them to happen, there's four a year, so to actually be sat here, it's still mind boggling - Danny Willett
"The fact that we have been able to come through everything that's happened and play so well under the pressure that we did on the back nine today, to be able to sit here with a Green Jacket on."
Willett has enjoyed brilliant success in the last 18 months, moving from outside the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking to Number Nine thanks to four wins on The European Tour, two of them helping him finish second in last season's Race to Dubai.
A lot of hard work has gone into making the Sheffield-native one of the elite golfers on the planet, and he was quick to praise the support of family and friends for helping him achieve his dreams.
"My family, my mum and dad and my brothers obviously know the hours I put in when we're all at home living together," he said.
"Brilliant as this game is and as much as the rewards it gives you,
any single person pro can tell you there's a lot of hard work that goes
on behind the scenes.
"It's all good and well practising for 12 hours a day, but I don't think that's going to get you many brownie points if you've got to do the dishes, change the little one's nappie and do other things like that.
"Time management, weighing everything up and making sure that not only are you trying to be a great golfer, but you're trying to be a great person, husband, father, all that stuff, as well."
Willett went from being five off the lead to the front of the field in what seemed like the blink of an eye on Sunday, as Spieth dropped six shots in three holes after the turn and the 28 year old made three birdies on the back nine.
"You never feel comfortable on this golf course until you finish and
sign the card and post a number," he said. "We knew we still had a job
to do. At the time we were still only four under par and he had only
dropped back to one, so there's still plenty of holes for him to catch
up and keep chasing.
"So it was a really timely birdie on 16, and then again to make contact up 17 and 18 with what goes on, and to hit such a nice chip that I did on 17, it's just those things.
"You practise, that's what you do, endless hours chipping, putting, hitting shots, imagining hitting shots at certain golf courses at certain times. And fortunately enough today, I've been able to relive some of those dreams and some of those practice sessions."
SO WHO IS DANNY WILLETT?
Willett was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. As an amateur, he won the English Amateur Championship in 2007 and competed in the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal County Down. In March 2008 he became the number one ranked amateur in the world.
Willett also played two seasons for Jacksonville State University in the U.S. During his time with at JSU, he was the 2006 Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and won medalist honours at the 2007 OVC Championship. He was a first-team All-OVC performer and a member of the OVC's All-Tournament Team in both seasons.
Following this performance, Willett moved into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time. He finished the 2010 season ranked 23rd on the Order of Merit.
Willett won for the first time on the European Tour in June 2012 at the BMW International Open in Cologne. He defeated Marcus Fraser on the fourth extra hole of a sudden death playoff.[1]
Willett finished third at the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Match Play, earning special temporary membership on the PGA Tour for the remainder of the 2015 season.[2]
Through 36 holes at the 2015 Open Championship, Willett was one stroke off the lead of Dustin Johnson and was paired with him in the final group for the third round of the Championship. He only could muster an even-par 72 in the third round, however, and dropped down the leaderboard.
A final round 70, moved him into a tie for 6th at the Old Course at St Andrews, his best finish in a major. In July 2015, Willett won his third European Tour title with a one-stroke victory over Matthew Fitzpatrick at the Omega European Masters. Though he earned enough to qualify for a PGA Tour card, Willett declined to take PGA Tour membership for the 2015–16 season.[3]
Defending champion Spieth led by five shots as he approached the 10th at Augusta, but then dropped six shots in three holes, including a quadruple 7 at the par-3 12th.
Willett won the tournament by three shots ahead of Lee Westwood and Spieth. Willett became the first British player to win the Masters for 20 years since Nick Faldo in 1996. After being presented with the Green Jacket as champion, Willett said: "It was a very surreal day when you look back at the ebbs and flows."[4]
Yorkshireman Danny Willett, Sheffield-born 28 years ago, was left to reflect on the most remarkable 12 days of his life as he followed up becoming a father for the first time with winning a Green Jacket at the Masters Tournament.
The Englishman had stressed in the months building up to the season's first Major Championship that he would not take up his place in the field if wife Nicole had not yet given birth by the time Masters week rolled around, with the baby due on April 10.
Zachariah James duly arrived on March 29, and 12 days later dad produced a brilliant closing 67 to hold off the challenge of Lee Westwood and defending champion Jordan Speith to win his first Major Championship.
Willett concedes that the days that followed the birth were not
necessarily the greatest preparation for a golf tournament, but as he
sat in the press room at Augusta National, it was clear he would not
have changed a thing."Words can't describe what I'm feeling right now, but words definitely can't describe how I was feeling last Tuesday when I got to hold something that me and my wife have made. It's just been incredibly surreal," he said.
"I'm just looking forward to getting back home and spending some time with them.
"To win golf tournaments on Tour is what we dream of doing. It's what you practice for and it's what you play for.
You dream about these kind of days, but for them to happen, there's four a year, so to actually be sat here, it's still mind boggling - Danny Willett
"The fact that we have been able to come through everything that's happened and play so well under the pressure that we did on the back nine today, to be able to sit here with a Green Jacket on."
Willett has enjoyed brilliant success in the last 18 months, moving from outside the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking to Number Nine thanks to four wins on The European Tour, two of them helping him finish second in last season's Race to Dubai.
A lot of hard work has gone into making the Sheffield-native one of the elite golfers on the planet, and he was quick to praise the support of family and friends for helping him achieve his dreams.
"My family, my mum and dad and my brothers obviously know the hours I put in when we're all at home living together," he said.
"Brilliant as this game is and as much as the rewards it gives you,
any single person pro can tell you there's a lot of hard work that goes
on behind the scenes."It's all good and well practising for 12 hours a day, but I don't think that's going to get you many brownie points if you've got to do the dishes, change the little one's nappie and do other things like that.
"Time management, weighing everything up and making sure that not only are you trying to be a great golfer, but you're trying to be a great person, husband, father, all that stuff, as well."
Willett went from being five off the lead to the front of the field in what seemed like the blink of an eye on Sunday, as Spieth dropped six shots in three holes after the turn and the 28 year old made three birdies on the back nine.
"You never feel comfortable on this golf course until you finish and
sign the card and post a number," he said. "We knew we still had a job
to do. At the time we were still only four under par and he had only
dropped back to one, so there's still plenty of holes for him to catch
up and keep chasing."So it was a really timely birdie on 16, and then again to make contact up 17 and 18 with what goes on, and to hit such a nice chip that I did on 17, it's just those things.
"You practise, that's what you do, endless hours chipping, putting, hitting shots, imagining hitting shots at certain golf courses at certain times. And fortunately enough today, I've been able to relive some of those dreams and some of those practice sessions."
SO WHO IS DANNY WILLETT?
Willett was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. As an amateur, he won the English Amateur Championship in 2007 and competed in the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal County Down. In March 2008 he became the number one ranked amateur in the world.
Willett also played two seasons for Jacksonville State University in the U.S. During his time with at JSU, he was the 2006 Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and won medalist honours at the 2007 OVC Championship. He was a first-team All-OVC performer and a member of the OVC's All-Tournament Team in both seasons.
Professional career
Willett turned professional in May 2008, and earned his European Tour card for the 2009 season coming through qualifying school. Following a successful 2009, finishing 58th in the inaugural Race to Dubai with 8 top-10s, Willett challenged at the 2010 BMW PGA Championship, taking the first round lead before falling off the pace and finishing outright fifth, winning 190,800 euro.Following this performance, Willett moved into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time. He finished the 2010 season ranked 23rd on the Order of Merit.
Willett won for the first time on the European Tour in June 2012 at the BMW International Open in Cologne. He defeated Marcus Fraser on the fourth extra hole of a sudden death playoff.[1]
Willett finished third at the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Match Play, earning special temporary membership on the PGA Tour for the remainder of the 2015 season.[2]
Through 36 holes at the 2015 Open Championship, Willett was one stroke off the lead of Dustin Johnson and was paired with him in the final group for the third round of the Championship. He only could muster an even-par 72 in the third round, however, and dropped down the leaderboard.
A final round 70, moved him into a tie for 6th at the Old Course at St Andrews, his best finish in a major. In July 2015, Willett won his third European Tour title with a one-stroke victory over Matthew Fitzpatrick at the Omega European Masters. Though he earned enough to qualify for a PGA Tour card, Willett declined to take PGA Tour membership for the 2015–16 season.[3]
2016 Masters victory
Willett won his first major championship in the 2016 Masters at Augusta after shooting a five-under-par round of 67 to take advantage of a collapse by Jordan Spieth.Defending champion Spieth led by five shots as he approached the 10th at Augusta, but then dropped six shots in three holes, including a quadruple 7 at the par-3 12th.
Willett won the tournament by three shots ahead of Lee Westwood and Spieth. Willett became the first British player to win the Masters for 20 years since Nick Faldo in 1996. After being presented with the Green Jacket as champion, Willett said: "It was a very surreal day when you look back at the ebbs and flows."[4]
Amateur wins (4)
- 2007 Yorkshire Amateur, English Amateur
- 2008 Australian Amateur Stroke Play Championship, Spanish Amateur Open Championship
Professional wins (5)
Labels: MASTERS
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Monday, April 11, 2016
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