Danny Willet reflects on his rise from being the world’s number one amateur to the new number nine in the world and Masters champion.
The 28-year-old arrived back in England on Tuesday to a hero’s welcome from crowds in Manchester Airport after his Master’s triumph.
Willet became the first Englishman to win the Masters since Nick Faldo’s famous comeback against Greg Norman in 1996. The last time a European won the Masters was in 1999 when Jose Maria Olazabal conquered at Augusta.
Willet told Sky Sports: “A lot of it was injury – I think I got my card in 2008, I’ve been on the tour for a long time now.
“I had a couple of good years when I first started, then I had a couple of torrid years with injuries.
“It took a long time to get back from that. You need the six months break and then you need to rebuild everything, do all the rehab work for your body and then obviously do the rehab work for your golf swing and try to improve it.
“That’s what set me back and then over the last three years, I’d say it’s been a nice progression slowly up there, more so the last 12 to 18 months, it’s been a real upward shift.”
