Twelve months from his glorious high here, Danny Willett produced the perfect analogy of what being Masters champion has involved. The fact he has struggled for good form since his win made his sentiment all the more worthy.
“I tried to make a pact to myself not to feel extra pressure but it’s difficult,” Willett said at Augusta National on Tuesday. “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 been more from myself. You get a little bit of outward pressure; obviously, it’s a public game. We’re on the 1st tee on Thursday morning and there’s millions of people watching. If you don’t hit it good, a million people see you hit it poorly and it’s not nice. It’s not a nice feeling to not hit good golf shots when you know what you can do.
“So I think the pressure has been slightly different and 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 if you work hard, there is that little bit of inevitability there sooner or later you have to crack in and get back to where you’ve been.
“I’ve always said, as long as the work ethic stays good, you keep ticking your boxes, then it’s only a matter of time. Unfortunately, it’s not dropped into place yet but I’m still only 29 years old and I’ve got a long career.”
Willett is not much fancied to produce a repeat Augusta success – bookmakers are offering in excess of 100-1. “To have the 12 months that I’ve had has been amazing,” he said. “It would be incredible to do it again sometime.”
The defending champion is rightly determined to enjoy this week regardless of the outcome. Willett harked back to his roots with the menu for the hosting of Tuesday’s Champions Dinner; mini cottage pies, a Sunday roast and apple crumble all featured. “We wanted to embrace British and Yorkshire culture,” Willett said. “Myself and my wife thought a lot about it.
“I think the menu is pretty well set for what people would have guessed. It is nothing really off the wall. It is what most people would have thought if they were to come to Britain on a Sunday, sit in a pub and have their dinner.”
Champions dinner by Yorkshire 🥂🍴 pic.twitter.com/H2uMSE2sZR
— Danny Willett (@Danny_Willett) April 4, 2017
Willett’s wife, Nicole, also compiled an assortment of gifts for all dinner invitees. Tiger Woods, despite pulling out of this, the 81st Masters, was among those to attend. A toast took place to Arnold Palmer before the first Masters since his death.
Willett continues to appreciate his achievements while setting goals for the future. “Coming back here on Saturday, we just went out there and walked for nine holes, hitting a few shots and that was really nice,” Willett said. “It was calm, there were maybe 20 members and a couple of pros playing. It was nice and serene to walk around. We dropped a few balls down where we hit, the chip on 17, and a couple other shots that we hit on Sunday last year.
“Definitely the feelings of being back are ones that are happy. It’s a great place to be. Obviously we have got some great memories around here. It’s nice to be back and we’ve had a few days of good work.
“I haven’t been back before now. It’s been too busy. It would have been nice to come back and play a few holes through the year, but I’ve not been able to.”
Among the privileges given to Willett for evermore will be a place in Augusta’s champions’ locker room. “I’m sharing a locker with Ian Woosnam,” he said. “They have put a lot of Brits together in there, which is nice. It’s funny, I saw him on the golf course the other day and he said it’s a shame because he’s had a nice clean locker for years and now there’s other stuff in there.”
