Danny Willett

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Danny Willett
— Golfer —
File:Danny Willet.JPG
Willett in 2009
Personal information
Full name Daniel John Willett
Born (1987-10-03) 3 October 1987 (age 36)
Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight 83 kg (183 lb; 13.1 st)
Nationality  England
Residence Rotherham, Yorkshire, England
Spouse Nicole Harris (m. 2013)
Children 1
Career
College Jacksonville State University
Turned professional 2008
Current tour(s) European Tour
PGA Tour
Professional wins 5
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 1
European Tour 5
Asian Tour 1
Sunshine Tour 1
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters Tournament Won: 2016
U.S. Open T45: 2014
The Open Championship T6: 2015
PGA Championship T30: 2014

Daniel John Willett (born 3 October 1987) is an English professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. In April 2016, he won his first major championship at the 2016 Masters Tournament, becoming only the second Englishman to achieve the feat and the first European in 17 years to win at Augusta National.

Early life

Willett was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, one of four brothers. His father, Steve, was a Church of England vicar and his mother, Elisabet, was a maths teacher. Willett used to practice his golf in a sheep pasture; interviewed by The Daily Telegraph in 2016 he said, "We used to go to Anglesey to play a par three course in the middle of a sheep field."[1]

Amateur career

As an amateur, he won the English Amateur Championship in 2007 and competed in the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal County Down. In March 2008 he became the number one ranked amateur in the world.

Willett signed with FirstPoint USA in 2005 and secured a golf scholarship he played two seasons for Jacksonville State University (JSU) in the U.S. During his time with JSU, he was the 2006 Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and won medallist honours at the 2007 OVC Championship. He was a first-team All-OVC performer and a member of the OVC's All-Tournament Team in both seasons.

Professional career

Willett turned professional in May 2008, and earned his European Tour card for the 2009 season coming through qualifying school. Following a successful 2009, finishing 58th in the inaugural Race to Dubai with 8 top-10s, Willett challenged at the 2010 BMW PGA Championship, taking the first round lead before falling off the pace and finishing outright fifth, winning 190,800 euro. Following this performance, Willett moved into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time. He finished the 2010 season ranked 23rd on the Order of Merit.

Willett won for the first time on the European Tour in June 2012 at the BMW International Open in Cologne. He defeated Marcus Fraser on the fourth extra hole of a sudden death playoff.[2]

Willett finished third at the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Match Play, earning special temporary membership on the PGA Tour for the remainder of the 2015 season.[3] Through 36 holes at the 2015 Open Championship, Willett was one stroke off the lead of Dustin Johnson and was paired with him in the final group for the third round of the Championship. He only could muster an even-par 72 in the third round, however, and dropped down the leaderboard. A final round 70, moved him into a tie for 6th at the Old Course at St Andrews, his best finish in a major. In July 2015, Willett won his third European Tour title with a one-stroke victory over Matthew Fitzpatrick at the Omega European Masters. Though he earned enough to qualify for a PGA Tour card, Willett declined to take PGA Tour membership for the 2015–16 season.[4]

2016 Masters victory

Willett won his first major championship at the 2016 Masters Tournament at Augusta National after shooting a five-under-par round of 67 to take advantage of a collapse by Jordan Spieth.[5] Defending champion Spieth led by five shots as he approached the 10th hole of the final round. Willett took the lead when Spieth, who was leading by 1 shot from Willett, had a quadruple bogey 7 at the par-3 12th. Willett was the leader in the clubhouse at −5 when he posted a bogey-free final round of 67 and was crowned champion when Spieth finished at −2 alongside Lee Westwood. Willett became the first British player to win the Masters for 20 years, Nick Faldo having won in 1996. After being presented with the green jacket as champion, Willett said: "It was a very surreal day when you look back at the ebbs and flows."[6] After his win, Willett accepted PGA Tour membership.

Personal life

Willett married Nicole Harris in 2013.[7] They reside in Rotherham, Yorkshire. Their first child, a son, was born in 2016.[8] Willett has described his father, Steve, as the best sports psychologist he has known.[9] Willett is a supporter of Premier League club Liverpool.[10] One of his older brothers is a teacher.[11]

Willett is a member of Lindrick Golf Club.[12]

Amateur wins (4)

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (1)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour events (0)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runners-up
1 10 Apr 2016 Masters Tournament 70-74-72-67=283 −5 3 strokes United States Jordan Spieth, England Lee Westwood

European Tour wins (5)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other European Tour events (4)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 24 Jun 2012 BMW International Open 65-70-69-73=277 −11 Playoff Australia Marcus Fraser
2 7 Dec 2014 Nedbank Golf Challenge1 71-68-65-66=270 −18 4 strokes England Ross Fisher
3 26 Jul 2015 Omega European Masters2 65-62-71-65=263 −17 1 stroke England Matthew Fitzpatrick
4 7 Feb 2016 Omega Dubai Desert Classic 70-65-65-69=269 −19 1 stroke Spain Rafael Cabrera-Bello, England Andy Sullivan
5 10 Apr 2016 Masters Tournament 70-74-72-67=283 −5 3 strokes United States Jordan Spieth, England Lee Westwood

1Co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour
2Co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2012 BMW International Open Australia Marcus Fraser Won with par on fourth extra hole

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runners-up
2016 Masters Tournament 3 shot deficit –5 (70-74-72-67=283) 3 strokes United States Jordan Spieth, England Lee Westwood

Results timeline

Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T38 1
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP T45 CUT
The Open Championship DNP CUT DNP T15 CUT T6
PGA Championship CUT DNP DNP T40 T30 T54

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 1 0 0 1 1 1 2 2
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 2
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3
Totals 1 0 0 1 2 3 12 8
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (twice, current)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice, current)

Results in World Golf Championships

Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.

Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Cadillac Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T12 T3
Dell Match Play DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP 3 T28
Bridgestone Invitational DNP DNP T50 DNP DNP T17
HSBC Champions T67 DNP T62 DNP DNP T3

DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

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External links

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