DANNY WILLETT EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW I was top of everyone’s wanted list and my body just fell apart ... BUT I ’M SLOWLY GETTING BETTER

DANNY WILLETT has revealed the “painkiller chomping” nightmare that wrecked his game.

The Sheffield star admits it was “depressing” to spend the last couple of years in agony, doing simple tasks like picking up his kids or bending over.

The downturn came after Willett became only the second Englishman to win the Masters in 2016.

The 30-year-old found his body was unable to cope with a punishing playing schedule and bad swing habits.

Now he’s battling back to form ahead of The Open at Carnoustie this week – rebuilding his swing with coach Sean Foley.

Willett plunged from the world’s top 10 to 400th ranked in a miserable run, which this year included 10 missed cuts out of the ones that are annoying. You don’t realise at first that they are the ones that are killers.”

Willett was sixth at the Irish Open last weekend, and eighth at the Italian in June. He added: “I got low. “People wanted me to play all over, different places.

“I was Masters champion, people wanted me to play here and there, and I probably played a bit too much and the body wasn’t ready for it. It had a knock-on effect into the next year. It just makes you a bit depressed.

“You know what you can do, know what you can achieve.

“The career I have had has been good. It was getting to the point of sitting at home, wanting to practise, but I couldn’t. Luckily we had the little man, born earlier this year and we were kept busy. Kids are a great distraction.

“Golf wasn’t going great, but you realise you are fortunate in many other ways.”

Willett says that he is hitting the ball better than before his Augusta heroics. He added: “The better golf shots are better than they ever have been.