THE MASTERS: DANNY’S BACK AFTER COVID HELL
FORMER CHAMPION UPBEAT AFTER COVID LEFT HIM WITH NARCOLEPSY
DANNY WILLETT is taking the positives from his case of Covid-19 as the fifth anniversary of his Masters triumph approaches.
The 2016 champion spent a week in bed after his failed test before The Players last month and then suffered from fatigue. “I’m a pretty energetic person and it was – literally – I had narcolepsy for a little bit,” he revealed. “It was really bizarre.When I sat down for a bit I would just nod off.”
Rather than see this latest issue as another downer in his stop-start career, the popular Yorkshireman returns to Augusta saying he is feeling fit, ready and relieved to be playing again.
“It was nearly a year to the day from when the Players got cancelled that I tested positive,” said the world No74. “I think people have had it a lot worse but I was literally in bed really badly for the first seven or eight days and then had seven or eight days feeling pretty rubbish.
“It was not quite what I expected. Both me and my wife Nic had it but we’re all right now. I’m trying to manage it and keep on top of it, so it’s good news. It is strangely nice knowing I basically can’t get ill again for the next three to six months they think. That in itself is reassuring, knowing I’m pretty safe now for a good while.
“With all this stuff you try and take the positives and that is a pretty good place to be. So fingers crossed we can stay fit and healthy and keep doing well.”
Willett deserves a bit of fortune after a few years dogged by back problems and loss of form.
Things started to go wrong at the 2016 Ryder Cup when his brother wrote a magazine piece mocking Americans – and wife Nicole and his parents were verbally abused on the Hazeltine course. After losing all three of his matches, Willett was asked to sum up his first Ryder Cup. “S**t,” he said. “Really s**t.”
And when he missed the cut at the 2018 BMW PGA at Wentworth during the rebuild of his swing with new coach Sean Foley, the former world No9 fell to 462nd. “It was a rough time, those couple of years,” he said. “And the years when I missed consecutive cuts at Augusta.”
But a November Masters saw him make the cut for the first time since winning it after shooting a second-round 66 – his best score at Augusta – despite cracking the face of his driver. “Luckily my three wood is pretty hot,” he said.
He started this year making six consecutive cuts before his positive test floored him. He finished eighth on his return in the Dominican Republic but missed the cut at the Valero Texas Open last week.
However, he also turned up under the radar – and late – at Augusta in 2016 after the birth of his first son Zac. “The game is in a nice place,” he insisted. “The body is in a nice place. It is just a matter of managing it all really well and let’s see where we are. I’m looking forward to going back this week.
“I’m still only 33, I hope I still have my best years ahead of me.”