Willett delighted to win at long last

DANNY Willett drew on the memories of his memorable 2016 Masters triumph to secure an emotional victory in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

It had been 953 long days since Willett won the Masters and, as he had not tasted victory since winning that first major title at Augusta National in April 2016, he had slumped from a career-high of ninth to outside the world’s top 450 earlier this season.

But after overcoming numerous injuries and a subsequent loss of form, the 31-year-old from Sheffield carded a final round of 68 at Jumeirah Golf Estates to finish 18 under par, two shots ahead of fellow Englishman Matt Wallace and current Masters champion Patrick Reed.

“Regardless of what would have happened, I’m in a much better place than where I was,” said Willett, who will climb from 276th in the world to back inside the top 100.

“I knew that things were going the right way and I was doing all the work possible to give myself chances to do this. I’m pleased to have won the tournaments that I’ve won over the last few years, but this, coming back after everything that’s happened, is going to go down as one of the most pleasing.”

Willett credits coach Sean Foley, who formerly coached Tiger Woods, and fitness trainer Kev Duffy for his resurgence.

Reed’s share of second was enough to lift him above Tommy Fleetwood into second place on the Race to Dubai, which was won by Open champion Francesco Molinari.