Danny Willett’s 2016 will forever be defined by the donning of the Green Jacket. There remains scope for the Yorkshireman to end the year with the European Order of Merit prize which so narrowly eluded him 12 months ago, though by Willett’s own admission the scaling of heights even close to what transpired at Augusta National in April is proving tricky.
A third at the BMW PGA Championship and his runners-up finish at the Italian Open stand out as Willett’s only strong results since The Masters. Last week at the WGC-HSBC Champions, he closed at an aggregate of 14-over par. His Ryder Cup, in his own words and partly linked to the unhelpful antics of his brother, was “shit”.
Somehow, Willett is seeking to summon the spirit of Augusta. The Turkish Airlines Open, starting on Thursday, is the second of four tournaments in succession for Willett to conclude the season. For now he lies second in the Race to Dubai behind Henrik Stenson, who is not in this week’s field.
“The last couple of months have been poor, to be honest, in a lot of aspects,” Willett admitted on Wednesday. “Last year I missed out in the Race to Dubai to Rory. He played great in Dubai, the final one. I think I had to just beat him and it would have been mine but he finished first and I finished fourth.
“This year I’d been leading it for a long, long time. Unfortunately last week I had probably my worst event on tour for all the years I’ve been on, and Henrik finished second, so jumped me. For me, this is a pretty big week. Henrik is not here – he was never scheduled to play anyway. So it gives me a chance to either close that gap, or hopefully leapfrog again and make it really interesting coming down to the last two [events].
“We’re doing all we can. The game is average; it has been average for a couple of months, so we’re working hard and we’re trying to do the right things. Unfortunately you have highs and lows in golf and the last couple of months have been a bit of a low. Before that was a massive high. You just keep working hard, and if you do that, then it’s only around the corner.”
If the fresh levels of attention and time constraints that came with being a major champion were the most problematic aspects for Willett, that would be perfectly understandable. Yet that does not actually seem to be the case. Rather, the 29-year-old’s desire to further his game after winning that first major is the key factor.
“You’re trying to get better and better,” Willett said. “For me, April has been a pretty magical month but you still try and push your game forward and push your game on. At times that leads to taking a few steps backwards in trying to change things that you’re doing and unfortunately it’s just been a bit of a stale run. It’s happened at a really bad time of year.
“The focus isn’t on the short-term goal – it’s a long-term goal, and you’ve got to start making changes eventually and doing something different if you want to get better. Everyone’s getting better every week. Just because I won in April doesn’t mean that’s going to continue for ever. You’ve got to make sure you keep on top of things and that you keep trying to get better. Just at the minute it’s just a little bit stale.
“We’re working incredibly hard in the gym, off the golf course, doing everything right and practising hard. It’s just not quite going the way that I would have envisioned it going these last couple of months. I’m pretty sure that I work with two of the best coaches in the world in Mike Walker and Pete Cowen. I’ve got a very good team around me and we’re trying to do everything correct and I’m pretty sure that everything we’re doing is correct.”
Willett was joined for pre-tournament duties here by Lee Westwood, who became the latest player to shrug off security concerns relating to an event in Turkey. Several have opted to skip this tournament with such fears in mind. Westwood answered “yes, a little bit” when asked whether he had been disappointed by withdrawal levels. “I think the world we live in right now, anything can happen anywhere,” he added. “I think Turkey is no different to anywhere else.
“I think everybody has to be very vigilant about these things but I certainly have no security worries about coming to Turkey. You [the media] are here, so you obviously aren’t going to do it if you have fears and I’m no different to you. I value my life as much as you value yours. I’m here looking forward to playing golf this week and in a big tournament, and we’re focusing on that. I don’t feel uncomfortable.”
Ewan Murray travelled courtesy of Turkish Airlines
