Slumping Willett shows sign of resurgence
’16 Masters champ lacking wins since his 1st major
Danny Willett was on top of the golf world in April 2016 when he left Augusta National Golf Club with the green jacket. His game quickly went south.
As he drove off Magnolia Lane after taking advantage of Jordan Spieth’s shocking downfall on the back nine, Willett had four European Tour titles and the Masters championship on his résumé. Since then, he hasn’t won anywhere, playing 61 events around the world and mustering just six top-10 finishes.
He admitted he chased too many playing opportunities that his green jacket afforded. His troublesome back became a constant enemy. His brother’s ill-timed, controversial column ahead of the 2016 Ryder Cup caused a major headache. Put it all together and the man who reached a career-high ninth in the official world golf rankings started stumbling on the golf course and tumbling down the rankings.
Willett, however, might be on the verge of an uptick.
Willett, who began the week ranked No. 342, made five birdies and two bogeys in brutal conditions to shoot 3-under-par 69 Thursday in the first round of the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges in Jeju Island, South Korea. Willett, who has just one top-five finish since finishing second in the 2016 Italian Open, sat one shot behind leader Chez Reavie (69) after enduring chilly temperatures and high winds.
“It’s nice to get a score like that on a day where it’s easy to get the wrong side of par and to kind of let things get to you. It’s nice to dig in and post a good one,” Willett said. “We’ve had a lot of changes over the last two years, changing coach and fitness teams and caddie and stuff. There’s a lot of different things going on, so it’s a little bit of time to adapt and re- adjust and to get your head around the new things that you’re doing.
“What is most satisfying is working as hard as you’re working and seeing results even just day to day, seeing the kind of things that we got today was very satisfying.”
Willett took up PGA Tour membership this season and will play most of the time on the most lucrative tour in golf.
“I’ve done two tours for a couple of years, and it’s very difficult,” Willett said.
No one survived the difficult conditions better than Reavie, who picked up two shots to par on the back nine and three on the front.
At 69 with Willett was 2017 Players champion Si Woo Kim. In a large group at 70 were Ian Poulter, Nick Watney and Michael Kim. Brooks Koepka, playing in his first tournament since being voted PGA Tour player of the year, was in a group at 71 with Paul Casey and Hideki Matsuyama.
Jason Dufner and Brandt Snedeker shot 72. Defending champion Justin Thomas had a 73, as did Jason Day, Ernie Els and J.B. Holmes.
Reavie’s only PGA Tour win came at the 2008 Canadian Open, and he finished second in back-to-back starts last year in Phoenix and Pebble Beach, losing at Phoenix in a playoff.
“The wind was blowing really hard all day long, so you had to really start the ball well and keep it out of the wind,” said Reavie, who hit all 14 fairways in regulation and 15 of 18 greens. “Luckily, I was able to do that. It’s tough, because once you get above the hole with this wind, it’s really hard to chip it close. The more greens you can hit, the better, and that was key to my game.”
The second of three PGA Tour events in three weeks in Asia has a 78-player field and no cut. Only 19 players broke par on Thursday.