Ad: The story behind Willett’s incredible return to form

For a golfer who had an abysmal start to the year, Danny Willett managed to end 2018 with a remarkable win at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. It’s been a long wait for the 31-year-old English star as it was his first win since his triumph at the 2016 Masters, but Willett managed to hold his nerve in a typically tense finish.

With just a two shot lead at the 72nd tee, Willett hit perilously close to water and for a moment, it looked like he would be overtaken by his compatriot Matt Wallace. But Willett managed to cling on to his 18-under total and demonstrate that he was capable of proving the doubters wrong.

The results in Dubai were all the more surprising as Willett had nine missed cuts at the start of the 2018 season and had slipped down to 462 in the Official World Golf Rankings. As a result, Willett wasn’t too highly ranked in many of the golf betting predictions for the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

But Willett showed the world that he is capable of keeping it together to deliver some stunning play, and it was nice to see him being congratulated on his Dubai win by the Golfer of the Year – Francesco Molinari.

It’s a remarkable turn around of form considering many people had written off Willett since he failed to match his incredible 2016 Masters win. In this epic golfing contest, Willett took advantage of a bizarre lapse in form from the defending champion, Jordan Spieth, and became the first British player to win the Masters for 20 years.

However, things didn’t go quite so smoothly when Willett returned to Augusta for the 2017 Masters. The reigning champion suffered a couple of shocking opening rounds for a total of seven over par and ended up missing the cut. Things went swiftly downhill from here with Willett losing his PGA Tour privileges after missing out on the required fifteen starts, and so it’s easy to see why many had lost hope in the English golfer.

Despite the worrying lack of form, Willett managed to achieve a remarkable turnaround in form from the middle of 2018 onwards. He managed to show that he was more than capable of playing some quality golf at the 2018 Open, and it signalled a newfound strength of character in Willett’s gameplay.

Willett struggled with numerous injuries after his 2016 Masters victory, and even admitted that a personal battle with painkillers threatened to derail his golfing career. Thankfully, with the help of coach, Sean Foley, Willett managed to rebuild his swing and put in some decent performances at the Irish and Italian Opens.

The Sheffield star even stated that becoming a father for the first time had helped him gain perspective and distract him from his lack of form in the golfing arena. And with a triumphant performance in Dubai, it seems that Danny Willett is well and truly back on the map.