Danny Willett's upbringing will keep him grounded, even wearing a green jacket
GOLFDIGEST.COM
By John Huggan
AUGUSTA,
Georgia -- He was the last player to arrive -- 89th of 89 -- and the last
man to leave Augusta National. Completing a last 12 days of his life he
described as “crazy,” new father Danny Willett -- he and wife Nicole
welcomed son Zachary into the world March 30 -- shot a closing 67 to win
one of the most unpredictable Masters Tournaments in history.
Five
shots behind defending champion Jordan Spieth with nine holes to play,
Willett was standing on the 15th green at four under par for the week
when the news came through that the long-time leader had accumulated a
quadruple-bogey seven at the short 12th. Suddenly, the tournament was
Willett’s to lose.
“You
never feel comfortable on this golf course,” he said. “Not until you
finish, sign your card and post a number. I knew I still had a job to
do. He was only three back so there were plenty of holes for him to
catch up. That made my birdie on the 16th really timely. And I hit a
great chip on the 17th (to save par). But that’s why you put in the
endless hours chipping, putting, hitting shots, imagining hitting shots
at certain courses at certain times. And fortunately I was able to
relive some of them dreams and some of them practice sessions.”
Willett
was quick to pay tribute to his playing partner for the final round,
Lee Westwood. Good friends and stable-mates at Chubby Chandler’s
International Sports Management, the pair has played a lot of golf
together both competitively and socially. All of which helped the new
champion’s ability to handle the unique pressures of a major
championship.
“I
couldn’t have asked for a better pairing,” he said. “Playing so much
with Lee and Darren (Clarke) has helped me be comfortable around great
players. My coach, Pete Cowen, told me earlier this year that I have to
be comfortable in uncomfortable situations. That helped too.”
Spieth
also came in for praise from the former English Amateur champion. The
pair had the potentially uneasy experience of sitting next to one
another at the presentation ceremony, where the defending champion helps
his successor into the traditional green jacket.
But all had gone well.
“He
just said, ‘really well played,’” said Willett. “He shook my hand like
the true gent he is. He’s a class act to be able to hold face as he did
at a time when he was obviously hurting. It just shows the character of
the guy. He’s going to be up and around the world number-one spot for
many years.”
Such
generosity of spirit is typical of Willett.
There has always been a lot
to like about the first European golfer to win the Masters in this
century. Approachable and personable, 28-year old Yorkshire-native has
retained, even as he has earned what he calls “ridiculous amounts of
money for someone my age,” an ordinariness and down-to-earth quality.
This is a man whose two best friends on the European Tour are caddies.
“When
we are all home we might go for a game and a bit of a giggle,” he says
of his pals. “That’s life for me. I see the physio in the morning then
go for a lesson. And play in the afternoon. After that it might be a few
drinks and a game of snooker.
“We
just mess around really. That’s normality for me. What I don’t do is
live the same life I have on tour. After a few weeks off I’m always
excited to be back on tour. I hate pitching up tired after too long on
the road. My maximum -- and they would have to be good events -- is
four.”
Golfing
fatigue wasn’t a problem this week. Willett arrived on the back of a
brief break from the tour. Which is not to say he was well rested.
The
recent addition to the Willett clan -- originally due to arrive April
11, his mum’s 28th birthday -- did mean golf’s newest father was
inevitably a little short of sleep. But, as things turned out, not short
of birdies. Winning a maiden major championship title with a
five-birdie, bogey-free closing round of 67 is the stuff of dreams for
any golfer.
Willett’s
background has played a large role in his ability to stay grounded,
something that his newfound status surely won’t change. The son of a
Church of England vicar and a Swedish-born mathematics teacher and the
second youngest of four brothers, Willett has never been allowed to be
the big shot in his obviously close-knit family (his parents twice
re-mortgaged their home to finance his golf when he was an amateur).
“My
Dad, as you’d expect, is pretty philosophical,” he says. “And my Mum,
being Swedish, is more straightforward and blunt. I’ve had times when
I’ve wanted an arm round my shoulder and I’ve been given a kick up the
backside instead. Which is how it should be.
“I’m
almost jealous of family’s ability to do “ordinary” things. When I was
playing in the Irish Open last year my parents were at their house in
Wales, which is where they will retire. They had our dog with them. They
were on the beach every day and waking up whenever they wanted. And I
was over there slaving away getting frustrated because I wasn’t hitting
it on a string.”
That
hasn’t happened too often in his career, though. After taking up the
game at the age of 11, Willett made rapid progress through the amateur
ranks, peaking at -- where else -- number-one in the world ranking. He
also spent two years at Jacksonville State University.
“It
was there I learned how to practice properly,” he says. “I had to
manage my own time. I was in the gym six days a week. I had to qualify
for the team on a weekly basis. And I had my schoolwork too. I had to
keep up a grade average that was decent enough to maintain my
eligibility for the team. Throw all that in the pot and you have to be
organized.”
Left to
his own devices, Willett developed a highly repeatable action, one
distinctive for the early “set” of the club in the backswing. But it
makes sense, at least to its owner.
“If
you set the club correctly early in the swing, all you really have to
do is turn,” says the former Walker Cup player of the swing that stood
up best to the pressure of an endlessly exciting Masters Sunday. “It’s
that simple. If I get the club in position with my shoulders ‘loaded,’ I
can just elevate to the turn them come back down. At my best, that’s
all I think about.
“I
don’t think my swing is ever going to change in how it looks. But the
feeling of it has changed. It feels wider. But when I see it on camera
it still looks narrow to me. But I don’t have to think about it really.
At first it was a conscious move, but not now.”
One
thing that has held Willett back is his back. Over the course of his
professional career he has been forced to withdraw from “maybe five
events.”
“It’s an
on-going thing and is sometimes not great,” he says. “When it’s cold, I
struggle. It was an edema on L-5 S-1 on my spine. It needed to settle
down basically. And golf is not the best sport you can play with a bad
back.
“I have to
watch myself. I can practice as much as I want most of the time. But I
have to make sure I move correctly and do all the stretches both before
and after. I have to stay loose. So it’s something I have to work
around.”
And that he
has done rather successfully over the last couple of years. T-6 in the
Open Championship at St. Andrews last year, Willett was also third in
the WGC World Match Play and the WGC HSBC Championship. This year he
joined the PGA Tour, ironically after seeking advice from the man he
played alongside in the final round of the 80th Masters.
“I
talked to Lee about whether I need to move to the States,” says
Willett, who hails from the industrial city of Sheffield. “He told me he
managed fine when he was living in Worksop, so I don’t see any need to
move over permanently. Lee said I should pick the events I want to play
in, know my schedule and stick to it.”
Following
that plan has worked out rather nicely. Even before victory in the
year’s first major, Willett was well on the way to the best season of
his career. In February, he won the Dubai Desert Classic and last month
he was T-3 in the WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral. So a surprise
victory this was not, no matter how much the ups and downs of Spieth may
have contributed to the most important win of Willett’s life.
Labels: MASTERS
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