On the night of his dramatic Masters win in 2016, Danny Willett went from a formal dinner with the Augusta National members to a wild party with Sir Alex Ferguson and James Nesbitt. His career path since has been just as unpredictable.
Instead of becoming a regular contender at majors after reaching world No 9, the combination of injuries and a loss of form will see the Yorkshireman celebrate the 10th anniversary of his three-shot win ranked down at world No 400.
“The last 10 years have gone incredibly quickly in the grand scheme of things,” Willett tells The i Paper. “And then unfortunately I’ve played pretty shitty for probably four or five of them.”
That was not the case at the 80th Masters. He was the final player to sign in on Monday afternoon after the early birth of his first son Zac meant a late dash over the Atlantic. And he was the last man standing after he showed his Sheffield steel to shoot a final-round 67 as defending champion Jordan Spieth twice found Rae’s Creek on the par-three 12th.
Then, remembers Willett with a smile, it started to get “crazy”. Rounds of TV interviews were followed by dinner with the genteel green jackets and then a mad house party with “200 drunk, screaming Northerners”. Even Sir Alex looked happy despite backing Spieth to retain the title.
“It was slightly between gritted teeth, but yeah, he did waste 10 grand on his bet, which was his fault,” laughed Liverpool fan Willett.
The former Manchester United boss had urged Willett then to “never look back” and become a serial winner like his great side. But April 10, 2016 was to prove the peak of his career.
“It’s gone from the literally the top of Everest and it was almost like I f**king slipped off the other side and woke up at the bottom three years later,” he admitted.
‘It was a downward spiral’
Like Paul Lawrie after Jean van de Velde’s 1999 Open collapse, Willett felt initial resentment at the lack of recognition for his win. Yet the bigger problems were tinkering with his swing and a nagging back issue after his Masters triumph.
“Looking back now, I wish I’d not messed around so much but the body didn’t help,” he said.
“In any other sport, when you get injured, you sit out, you get fully fit again. With golf, you can’t. It’s you. If you don’t play golf, you can’t compete
“The more balls I hit, the more injured I felt. I was on a carousel and I couldn’t get off. A downward spiral.”
His brother Pete’s views on US fans (he called them “fat, stupid, greedy and classless”) did not help before the 2016 Ryder Cup. “But I was playing so poorly that the worst words being said to me were from me,” Willett grimaced.
Did you consider quitting? “A few times,” he said. “Two years after Augusta when I was really, really in real pain. I don’t know if you would say I was depressed. It was more frustration. Knowing what you’ve been able to achieve and then going on a golf course and A, being in pain and then B, just hitting it so bad, and not knowing why. It’s like trying to hit a free-kick and missing the ball. That’s what it felt like.”
He still claimed the 2018 DP World Tour Championships and two other titles – and shot a first-round 68 at the 2024 Masters just six months after shoulder surgery. But Willett’s physical issues have always stymied any career momentum.
‘Sometimes golf has felt so easy – but really it’s f**king hard’
He remains the only other Englishman to have won a green jacket along with three-time champion Sir Nick Faldo. His place in golfing history is assured. So what keeps him going now at the age of 38?
“There’s times when this game has felt so easy,” he said. “And there’s a time when it felt really hard and you just want to get back and at least have the feeling again of your hands shaking, being in contention in a big tournament against the best players in the world because that’s where I feel like I belong. Yeah, that is the want and desire.
“Unfortunately, for the billions of people around the world that play golf, there’s only 54 people that have won Augusta. To be one of them is pretty good.
“But it’s f**king hard golf, regardless of what other people think. It’s even harder when what you think of yourself isn’t great. There’s work to be done, but fingers crossed, touch wood, we’re getting closer.”
