The champion

You’re a real golf fan if you know that Danny Willett is the reigning Masters champion and that Jimmy Walker won the most recent major, the 2016 PGA Championship.

Willett discussed the pressure that winning puts on the champion. Excerpts from his Tuesday interview:

Q: Has being a major champion made you a more patient or impatient as a player?

A: I think the last 12 months has shown it’s made me a little more impatient. It’s a difficult one. I think achieving what I achieved last year and performing under pressure that I did on Sunday, you come away and if you don’t do that every time, you get a bit annoyed. You feel like you should be able to ... You can’t just do it week in and week out.

Q: Do you feel an extra pressure when you win a major?

A: I tried to make a pact to myself not to, but it’s difficult. Like I was saying earlier, you’ve achieved the greatest height in your game. You have got to the pinnacle. You’ve climbed Everest and you’ve put your flag in. Unfortunately, you’ve got to either climb down or stay up there, and it’s incredibly difficult to stay up there all the time. The pressure has obviously been more from myself . ... The game has obviously not been as good as I wanted it to be these last 12 months, but we’re still working hard and you know, if you work hard, there is that little bit of inevitability there sooner or later you have to kind of crack in and get back to where you’ve been.