Danny Willett: Ten years on from his Masters victory

A decade on from his Masters victory, Danny Willett reflects on the shots, emotions and years that have defined his journey since his win at Augusta National.

It has been ten years since Danny Willett slipped on the Green Jacket at Augusta National on one of the most dramatic final days of the Masters in recent memory. He is still the most recent champion to learn he had won from inside the scorer’s hut, and the video of his caddie Jonathan Smart jumping on top of him in celebration while he was on the phone to his wife Nic remains one of the most joyful snapshots in modern Major history.

It will always be remembered as the crowning moment of his career, when he became England’s first Masters champion in 20 years. It will also forever be tied to the moment Jordan Spieth, seemingly untouchable with a five shot lead heading into the back nine, faltered at the twelfth. Yet Willett’s performance deserves to be remembered for what it truly was: a masterclass in composure.

Reflecting now, ten years on, he can still recall almost every shot of that final round with startling clarity. The memories of the golf, the wait, and the winning moment are vivid. The aftermath of victory much less so.

“Almost every shot,” he laughs when asked about what he remembers of that final round. “Almost every number.”

It was only his second appearance at Augusta, and while he had made the cut in 2015, nothing about his Major record suggested a Green Jacket was imminent. What did suggest it, for those paying attention, was everything else. Willett arrived in 2016 as one of the hottest players on the DP World Tour, riding the momentum of two wins and seven further top tens the previous season, including third place finishes at both WGC events in Shanghai and San Francisco. He finished 2015 second on the Race to Dubai behind Rory McIlroy, and then started 2016 with victory at the Dubai Desert Classic and finishing tied third at the WGC Cadillac Championship.

By the time he drove down Magnolia Lane that April, he had climbed to 13th in the Official World Golf Ranking. But he also arrived after a couple of weeks off, having just welcomed his first son, Zac, at the end of March. Even by his own admission, he entered the week, and the final round, as something of an underdog.

“Obviously went into Augusta, with not knowing what I was going to do with Zac coming along,” he says.

“We were relatively under the radar, but we were still 12th in the world. And I had played really, really good golf for kind of 18 months. And yeah, it was just one of those weeks where you play well, things go your way. It still doesn’t feel like ten years, but it was a pretty special time.”

He remembers the small moments as clearly as the big ones. The escape on nine on Sunday, when he clipped the trees on the left, hit a six-iron short right, chipped up the bank and holed a six footer.

"I remember all the great shots we hit there, but you know, some great saves. Up on nine we were in the trees again, just clipped the edge of the trees on the left, dropped down, you know trying to rope a six-iron in, left it short right, chipped up the bank and holed a great six footer to keep the momentum going.

“You are not making birdies, but you are keeping the momentum going. You are never going backwards on that Sunday. That was key.”

And then came the wait. The surreal, suspended stretch of time after signing his card, watching Spieth on the broadcast, phone buzzing uncontrollably, trying to prepare for the possibility of a play-off while also trying to process what might be happening.

“My phone was blowing up,” he says. “I was watching Jordan [Spieth] thinking, if he has a run here, you need to be ready for a playoff. The emotions were really mixed.

“We signed the card and then went and sat on the sofa by the side. I plugged my phone in to charge it. My phone was blowing up. Everyone was calling, trying to FaceTime Nic, and then watching.

"Obviously I was watching Jordan, thinking, I birdied fourteen and he can birdie 14. It's a good pin. You can eagle 15, 16 is a hole-in-one flag. So all of a sudden you're watching it, but you also need to be prepared that if he has a run here, there's a good chance that it could be a play-off. So the emotions were really mixed.”

When it became clear the jacket was his, the next few hours dissolved into a surreal blur.

“After [Spieth's] bogey on 17, that was obviously that. He had to make a hole in one on the last, which is obviously impossible.

"And then yes, Smarty came running, jumped on me, and then to be fully honest, the next few hours is a complete blur. All the media, all the other bits. I was fortunate I had friends and family there, they'll probably be able to tell you about the story of how it was, but mine was a bit of a blur.

"I remember putting the jacket on Sergio the year after and actually seeing his family [react] and thinking, 'oh, that's what it looks like'. His mum was crying. His dad was crying. Angela is crying.

"I imagine that's what all my lot were doing, but at the time I was just completely away with the fairies. I still can't quite remember it.”

The Champions Dinner brought its own surreal moment.

“I was really nervous,” he says. “You stand up to give a speech and you look around at Nicklaus, Player, Tiger, O’Meara, Vijay, Adam Scott, and you think, why on earth would they want to hear a speech from me?”

But the room, he says, was warm, generous and welcoming.

“They have all been in that position. It is the best dinner you could ever imagine.”

He still remembers Hideki Matsuyama standing up and delivering his speech in English, and Gary Player responding in Japanese.

“No one knows what he said,” Willett laughs. “But Hideki nodded and bowed. It was brilliant.”

What followed should have been the launchpad for the rest of Willett’s career, but instead it became the beginning of a decade of physical struggle. Shoulder issues, back pain, numbness, surgery and the kind of inconsistency that erodes confidence as quickly as it limits performance.

“Unfortunately, two or three years after that, I got injured pretty badly, dropped down to whatever we were in the world. It was a strange one. Obviously I look back now and I think would I have done anything different straight after.

"A lot of the guys who have won Majors recently that I know, are friends of mine, they have gone on and kind of progressed nicely. And for me it was obviously the exact opposite, which is quite disappointing.”

A year on from his victory, Willett revealed in a DP World Tour Player Blog that a loss of confidence in his game, combined with a worsening back injury, had left him not wanting to play golf at all just months after his Major win.

“At the end of 2016 I was in contention in the Race to Dubai and I just didn’t want to play golf,” he’d written at the time. “Think about that. It’s utterly ridiculous. I had entered the HSBC Champions in China, Turkey, Nedbank and Dubai – four of the biggest tournaments of the year – and I didn’t want to play. I just didn’t feel good enough to compete.”

He still played in the Ryder Cup and finished second on the Race to Dubai that year, but the issues were compounding and Willett found himself searching for answers on YouTube, watching clips of his final round at Augusta.

His return to the Masters as defending champion didn’t go how he had pictured, either.

“When I went back there, I probably shouldn't have played. I was in a lot of pain, and played terrible which was probably the most annoying part of it.

"You want to go back and enjoy the whole week and enjoy the fact that you go back as defending champion.”

Willett has been back plenty of times since 2016. He missed three cuts in a row before a T25 in 2020, then went missed cut, T12, missed cut, T45 and T42.

“The last couple of years I have played nice,” he says. “Not quite the finishes I want, but nice. When I have played my best there, it has been when the conditions are hard.” He hopes this April brings something firmer, faster, more reminiscent of 2016.

“Hopefully it can be a bit fiery,” he says.

Those results echo how the past decade has gone for Willett, as even with highs peppered in between, he has spent a long time having to adapt through injury as his body has wavered between allowing and refusing him to compete at the level he achieved at his peak.

He changed coach in 2017, and while those next two years on from victory were a struggle, he was back in the winner’s circle the end of 2018 at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, and lifted the BMW PGA Championship trophy less than a year later.

“To be able to come back after the three really terrible years afterwards and win in Dubai was, if not the best win for me, then right up there.”

Behind it all though, he was playing through pain, travelling across two tours, and trying to maintain momentum while his body struggled.

His most recent win came four years ago while still battling injury at the 2022 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, and in 2023 he finally decided to get surgery.

“There has been a lot going on with the body over the last decade,” he says now. “It has been a rollercoaster. When the body has felt good, I have won. But there has been a lot of missed cuts in there."

He adds: “I just kept ploughing on. I was sick and tired of being in pain playing golf. Waking up in pain, hitting balls for a couple of hours and then my arm would go numb. Looking back, an older version of me would have told a younger version to do a few things differently.”

This year, he has returned to coach Mike Walker in a bid to restore the consistency he had during his 2014 to 2017 peak.

“Me and Mike had a lot of success before,” Willett says. “We just kind of try and pick up on the good things we did from 2014 through to 2017.

"Just trying to really get a good understanding again, trying to get some consistency back. I'm not trying to search for different things every day.”

When we spoke to him in Dubai in January, there was optimism that he was on the right track.

“It’s been a rollercoaster. I've obviously still won three times in that period [the last 10 years], which is not enough. But, when the body's felt good, and right now it's getting back to where it feels like I can do it again.

"You know, obviously, the surgery a couple of years ago I’ve had various issues with other body areas. So, I'm hoping fingers crossed, touch wood that kind of things are now coming together.

"I'm only 38, so there’s still a lot of time left. If I can now stay in good shape and kind of keep the injuries at bay. I know that I'm doing the right things. We're on the right path. I'm actually looking forward to, you know, what this year brings.”

Later that week, he had to withdraw from the Hero Dubai Desert Classic with a tendon tear in his hamstring.

He’s played four events since, making the cut at both the Puerto Rico Open and at the Texas Children’s Houston Open on the PGA TOUR, trying to get the tournament reps in.

Whatever happens during his 12^th start at the Masters Tournament, the drive to compete alongside the very best is still absolutely there for Willett.

“Too much probably,” he laughs. “The competitive fire is there, but when you can't do exactly what you want to do it is a frustrating place to be.

As for what the win means now, ten years on? The answer is thoughtful, grounded and free of regret, with no bitterness of a decade that did not go to script, only perspective.

“It was a massive time in my career,” he says. “If the next ten years looked like the last ten years, I would still take it.”