The Mail on Sunday

Willett sets record straight . . . he quit because of his bad back, not his 81

- By Derek Lawrenson

JUST as he did at the Players Championsh­ip in Florida last month, Danny Willett shot a big number in the first round of the United States Open and then withdrew before the start of his second round.

So, naturally, some commentato­rs were drawing their own conclusion­s.

‘A shame to see Danny Willett not show up today,’ one wrote on Twitter. ‘Shot 81 and no-showed. Hope he gets life and golf straighten­ed out.’

In fact, Willett did show up at Erin Hills and clearly felt the need to set the record straight at the obvious inference that he was a quitter.

‘Just to set this right,’ he tweeted, ‘I was up at 7.30am with the physio to work on the back. Got to the course at 10 to give me time for two warm-ups.’

The Yorkshirem­an’s annoyance was understand­able given the practice range is only 50 yards from the media centre and he could be seen as plain as day before his second-round tee-time hitting balls in an effort to feel comfortabl­e.

He has long had to manage chronic back problems and it would have been foolish to risk aggravatin­g them given the busy summer ahead by walking a gargantuan 8,000-yard course.

That said, the former Masters champion is in the midst of a prolonged slump with, worryingly, no obvious end in sight. He was recently sacked by his caddie Jon Smart owing to the rows they were having on the course and it’s never a good look to withdraw after a bad first round even if there are mitigating circumstan­ces.

Perhaps he could take some inspiratio­n from Tommy Fleetwood, who could barely keep the ball on the golf course this time last year — and now look at him.

The trouble for Willett, who has always been one of the hardest-working profession­als, is that it’s difficult to find a solution when your body doesn’t allow you to practise properly.

For that he deserves sympathy, not people putting one and one together and making three.

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