ROUGH SMOOTH
From Masters Champion to British Masters host via victories interspersed with injury and illness, Danny Willett’s career has been something of a rollercoaster ride...
In the first week of May, Danny Willett will once again host the Betfred British Masters at The Belfry. To the author at least, it seems like only yesterday that a bouncy, freshfaced 19-year-old Willett was playing in the Walker Cup at Royal County Down alongside Rory Mcilroy, among others, against a team including Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Billy Horschel and Webb Simpson. But that was 15 years ago, and Willett is now an older, not-quite-yet elder statesman of European golf – a Major Champion, a
multiple winner and an ambassador for the sport and charity (see box over the page).
Host to the British Masters is an impressive line on a CV most professional golfers would be very envious of. It’s six years since Willett added bullet point 1 on that CV. Taking full advantage of Jordan Spieth’s meltdown, he stormed home to win the 2016 Masters. He became only the second Englishman to don a Green Jacket and the world was his oyster.
At that time, the affable Yorkshireman had climbed to ninth on the Official World Golf Ranking and, at 29, it seemed likely the victory would act as
the springboard for continued success. It didn’t quite pan out like that. Willett’s career has been something of a rollercoaster. He endured a tough couple of years as he struggled to come to terms with the pressures of being a Major winner. He suffered a run of debilitating injuries that left him, in his words, “chomping pain killers” to get through the punishing playing schedule expected of him as Masters Champion. He slumped as low as 462nd on the Official World Golf Ranking in May 2018 and considered giving up the sport completely.
“At the very top of the game, consistency is key,” he says. “And when you’re injured, you can’t maintain it. The problem is that you can’t practise enough to retain that consistency and to put in the necessary work to go to events and be competitive.” It was a tough spell, but Willett is made of Sheffield steel and the vicar’s son kept faith in his abilities. He fought back and won the DP World Tour Championship at the end of 2018. The following year, he won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, holding off Jon Rahm to claim the European Tour’s flagship event. “I was willing to make changes and that’s pretty hard to do,” says Willett. “I had the correct people around me and all the work we put in came through that week.”
It was a welcome return to form, but unfortunately, another slump followed – one which saw him miss 11 cuts through 2020. In 2021, Willett suffered Covid-19, appendicitis and a hernia and had problems with his wisdom teeth. He fell back to 164th in the world but then bounced back again, securing a memorable victory in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
“It was an unfortunate eight months or so,” he says. “I seem to do it a lot – go up and down. St Andrews has always been an amazing place to go and play well. The Dunhill hasn’t suited me in the past, but last year, because it was tough with challenging weather conditions, it helped. Usually the scoring around there is really low, but the weather evened things out. It was a great week.”
Willett is clearly a man for the iconic venue. He has victories at Augusta, St Andrews and Wentworth on his CV. Only a very few players in the history of the game can make such a claim. “Yeah, I suppose I do seem to do well at these famous courses,” he chuckles. “It is inspiring to play at venues with a great history. When you know the players that have won there before, it definitely spurs you on.”
A rollercoaster ride
Since that win in the Dunhill, Willett’s form has waned again. A couple of missed cuts in the Middle East were followed by a spell of hard graft on the PGA Tour, where he’s focusing his attentions this season.
“We’re out in America playing a full PGA Tour schedule apart from coming back for the British Masters,” he says. “Really just playing and getting the game back into as good a shape as possible to where I
can compete and try and get back into the winners’ circle.”
Willett is clearly a resilient character and his past history shows he has what it takes to ride out the more challenging spells. Something he will always have is a Green Jacket hanging in the clubhouse at Augusta.
“I look forward to The Masters so much each year – the entire week. It’s an incredibly special place for me because of the things that have happened,” he says. “But now, being involved with the whole week – the Champions Dinner on the Tuesday, this year for the first time for a while having the Par 3 Contest back with family and full patrons, It’s just special.”
His Masters win has introduced him to some interesting people. Willett played with Augusta member Jimmy Dunne during his win in the Alfred Dunhill Links. Dunne, who made his fortune in finance, lost 66 members of his firm in the World Trade Center attacks in 2001, and has worked incredibly hard since then to help those affected by the tragedy, both through charitable acts and by giving emotional support.
“It’s a very interesting aspect of what we do. When you get talking to people, whether they’re successful in business or sport, about how they’ve got there and what they’ve done, it can put things in perspective,” Willett continues. “Chatting to Jimmy, for instance, on how hard he’s worked… What he did after 9/11 was one of the most humbling things ever. How he went through that experience, it’s incredible. This great game enables you to nurture a fantastic relationship with someone you might not otherwise have had the chance to get to know.”
Reasons to be cheerful
Willett has obviously matured over his 14 years as a professional and he sees the game as being in a great place at this moment in time. “The guys have all gone in search of hitting it a long way, but then you have the young lads who don’t necessarily hit it so far – Morikawa and Hovland, for instance. They have just been impressively consistent right from the get-go,” he says.
“For me, it’s how diverse the game is; how there isn’t this exact formula that everyone needs to abide by to get good at the game. Bryson Dechambeau carries the golf ball 340 yards through the air, but Morikawa might be one of the best iron players who’s ever played the game by the time he’s finished. It’s always this fine line in golf between precision and power and I think it’s been showcased over the last five years in our sport; there’s not one way that’s perfect to do it.”
And Willett is keen to stress that variety should also be to the fore when it comes to course set-ups in pro golf. “I know guys talk about lengthening golf courses, but to make it difficult, just make it rock hard with long rough, like the US Opens I used to watch when I was growing up,” he says.
“Making a golf course 7,800 yards – I don’t think it necessarily works in making it more difficult. All I think you do is alienate certain players and make it only a few who can compete. With variety, you bring different skills to the fore. That’s what this game has always been about – using your skill set.”
He’s of the opinion that developing those different skills is key and it’s something he’s constantly working on – every element of the sport. “Within golf, there are probably eight to ten skills that you need to master and there’s nobody ever who has absolutely mastered them all,” he says. “Tiger Woods has obviously gotten bloody close during his career, but there are always things to work on, even for the very, very best.”
Master seems to be an important word for Willett – the former Masters Champion and British Masters host is determined to master more skills to make a return to the top level of the game. Willett will keep riding the rollercoaster knowing that with patience and hard work he’ll hit top form again.
The now not-so-young lad from Sheffield will continue to add to that impressive CV of his through exploits and endeavours, both on and off the golf course. He will do so with a smile, and with a perspective gained through personal experience and by considering the experiences of other people.