Willett recalls the moment dream became possible

It was during the short walk from the 15th green to the 16th tee at Augusta National that Danny Willett realised his life could be about to change forever.

Five shots behind defending champion Jordan Spieth with just nine holes to play, Willett had been doing his part to close the gap with birdies on the 13th and 14th, his third and fourth of the final round of the 2016 Masters.

But while Willett was making a par on the 15th and playing partner Lee Westwood chipped in for an eagle, it was Spieth – following bogeys on the 10th and 11th with a quadruple-bogey seven on the 12th – that had the most seismic impact.

“We heard it (the reaction) from the two, three big grandstands around 15 when they are changing score,” said Willett, who had been the last player to register at Augusta after his wife Nicole gave birth to their first child, Zachariah, a few days earlier.

“We had a 12-foot putt for birdie and missed and we were still at four under par, and then obviously Westy had chipped in for eagle to get to three, and Jordan had done that on 12 and dropped back to one.

“We realised when Johnny (caddie Jonathan Smart) put the flag in on 15 and we were walking to the 16th tee. I said to Johnny, ‘We’ve got five good swings and (can) hopefully hole a couple of putts and see what happens.”

One good swing and one putt from eight feet later and Willett had birdied the 16th as Westwood’s challenge ended with a bogey.

To his immense credit, Spieth had somehow regained his equilibrium to birdie the 13th and 15th, but when he bogeyed the 17th, it was only a matter of time before he would be slipping the famous green jacket on to Willett’s shoulders.

“It’s obviously been a great honour to be Masters champion for the year,” added Willett, whose flawless closing 67 left him three clear of Spieth and Westwood.

“The experience has been fantastic. The welcome that you get at home, we didn’t quite realise the impact it had made in the British press. When we arrived home it was manic really.”

Despite being ranked 12th in the world at the time, Willett was a largely unfancied outsider 12 months ago and returns to Augusta in a similar position after struggling for form.

The 29-year-old had a three-shot lead after 54 holes in Malaysia but faded to fifth, finished 69th in the 77-man field in the WGC-Mexico Championship and failed to reach the knockout stages of the WGC-Match Play.

Anyone believing he can become the first back-to-back winner since Tiger Woods in 2002 can get odds of 125-1.

Danny Willett: three-shot winner at Augusta.