Daniel John Willett (born 3 October 1987) is an English

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who plays on the

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

. 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 Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, the third of four sons of Steve, a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

vicar and Elisabet, a teacher. In an interview with ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' in 2016 Willett recalled his introduction to golf; "We used to go to

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

to play a par three course in the middle of a sheep field." He was a member of Birley Wood Golf Club in his youth.

Amateur career

As an amateur and member of Rotherham Golf Club (RGC), he won the English Amateur Championship in 2007 and competed in the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal County Down In acknowledgement of his achievements he was given life membership of RGC by the then Captain Michael E Stubley and fellow Directors of RGC. In March 2008 he became the number one ranked amateur in the world. Willett secured a golf scholarship at

Jacksonville State University Jacksonville State University (JSU or Jax State) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's degree, bachelor's, mas ...

(JSU) in Alabama. During his time with JSU, he was the 2006

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

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

2008–15

Willett turned professional in May 2008, and earned his European Tour card for the 2009 season coming through

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. Following a successful 2009, finishing 58th in the inaugural Race to Dubai with eight top-10s, Willett challenged at the 2010

BMW PGA Championship The BMW PGA Championship is an annual men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour. It was founded in 1955 by the Professional Golfers' Association (Great Britain & Ireland), Professional Golfers' Association, and originally called the ...

, taking the first-round lead before falling off the pace and finishing outright fifth, winning 190,800 euros. Following this performance, Willett moved into the top 100 of the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

for the first time. He finished the 2010 season ranked 23rd on the Order of Merit. 2011 proved to be a less successful season, with only one top ten placement in 30 competitions; he still managed to retain his tour membership comfortably with a final 91st place in the Order of Merit. Willett's first victory on the European Tour came in June 2012 at the BMW International Open in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. He defeated Marcus Fraser on the fourth extra hole of a sudden death play-off. In the same season he collected a second place at the

Omega European Masters The Omega European Masters is the Switzerland, Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was pr ...

, a third place at the

Maybank Malaysian Open The Malaysian Open is a men's professional golf tournament that is currently played on the Asian Tour, and was formerly played on the European Tour. Notable past winners include world number one golfers Vijay Singh and Lee Westwood (both playe ...

and three additional top-ten finishes, that gave him the 23rd position at the final Order of Merit. In 2013 and 2014 Willett established himself as one of the leading European players in the European Tour and in 2015 alone he collected seven top-ten finishes, and ended the year in 25th place in The Race to Dubai. In December 2014 Willett won the

Nedbank Golf Challenge The Nedbank Golf Challenge, previously known as the Million Dollar Challenge, is an annual men's professional golf tournament played at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, North West province, South Africa. It was first played in 1981 a ...

in Sun City, South Africa and, with a third place at the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Match Play in May 2015, he earned a special temporary membership on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

for the remainder of the 2015 season. Through 36 holes at the 2015 Open Championship, Willett was one stroke off the lead of

Dustin Johnson Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two Men's major golf championships, major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open (golf), 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 ...

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 sixth at the

Old Course at St Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course in the world. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links ...

, his best finish in a major to that point. In July 2015, Willett won his third European Tour title with a one-stroke victory over Matt Fitzpatrick at the

. Though he earned enough to qualify for a PGA Tour card, Willett declined to take PGA Tour membership for the 2015–16 season.

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. 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 Lee John Westwood (born 24 April 1973) is an English professional golfer. He is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including victories on the European Tour an ...

. Willett became the first British player to win the Masters for 20 years,

Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his dedication to the game, and was ranked No. ...

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." After his win, Willett accepted PGA Tour membership and rose to the 9th place of the

. Beside the first major win at the Masters, 2016 proved to be the most successful season for Willett. He collected his fourth win on the European Tour in February at the Dubai Desert Classic, and had a 2nd place at the 2016 Italian Open and a 3rd place at the

, establishing himself early in the season as leader of the Race to Dubai. With his position he also earned the automatic selection for the 2016 Ryder Cup. Willett's Ryder Cup debut started with a controversy stirred by his brother Peter Willett in a '' National Club Golfer'' article in which he stated that "for the Americans to stand a chance of winning, they need their baying mob of imbeciles to caress their egos every step of the way"; Danny Willett successively distanced himself and apologised for his brother's comments, although he later defended his brother's comments as correct after the competition had completed. In the event, he played three matches without earning a point. In the Friday afternoon fourballs he teamed up with Martin Kaymer, losing by 5 and 4 to Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka, on Saturday, he paired with

against J. B. Holmes and Ryan Moore in a 1 up loss in the fourballs; in the Sunday singles he lost again, by 5 and 4, to Koepka.

2017

Seeking his first victory since his Masters win, Willett entered the final round of the 2017

Maybank Championship The Maybank Championship was a professional golf tournament, co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the European Tour, that was played annually in Malaysia. The tournament was founded in 2016 by sponsors Maybank, who had previously sponsored the Mala ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, with a three-stroke advantage over the field. In the final round, he was the only player in top 29 positions to shoot over par and finished in a tie for fifth, four strokes behind eventual winner,

Fabrizio Zanotti Arnaldo Fabrizio Zanotti (born 21 May 1983) is a Paraguayan professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. Early life Zanotti was born in Asunción, the national capital. He was Paraguay's top ranked amateur golfer for six straight years. ...

. In defence of his Masters title, Willett shot opening rounds of 73 and 78 for a total of seven-over-par. He missed the cut by one stroke, becoming the first defending champion to do so since Mike Weir in 2004. Willett struggled with a back injury throughout the season, withdrawing from three tournaments, and ultimately lost his PGA Tour privileges having failed to make the required fifteen starts.

2018

Willett began the 2018 season with nine missed cuts and a withdrawal in his first twelve tournaments. After the 2018

, Willett fell to 462nd in the

. However, his play improved in the second half of the season. This culminated in a victory at the 2018 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai on 18 November 2018. The victory was part of the Rolex Series and worth $1,333,330.

2019

On 22 September, Willett won the

at Wentworth Golf Club in England. This win at the

's flagship event brought Willett back into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

2020

In the 2019–20 PGA Tour season, shortened due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Willett recorded one top-10 with a tied-fourth finish at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

2021

In March, Willett recorded a top-10 at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship. Later in May, he hosted the Betfred British Masters at

The Belfry The Belfry is a golf resort and hotel in Wishaw, Warwickshire, close to Sutton Coldfield, England, located approximately 8 miles from the centre of Birmingham. It was acquired by KSL Capital Partners in August 2012. The resort has three golf ...

, which was won by Richard Bland. In October, he won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship by two shots ahead of Tyrrell Hatton and Joakim Lagergren.

2022

Willett was one of a number of players to regain PGA Tour privileges after others who joined

LIV Golf LIV Golf ( ) is a professional men's golf tour. The name "LIV" refers to the Roman numerals for 54, the number of holes played at LIV events. The first LIV Golf Invitational Series event started on 9 June 2022, at the Centurion Club near St Alba ...

were removed from the FedEx Cup standings. In September, Willett started the 2022–23 PGA Tour season at the

Fortinet Championship The Procore Championship, previously the Fortinet Championship and the Safeway Open, is a professional golf tournament, part of the PGA Tour. Originally sponsored by Fry's Electronics, it was first staged in 2007 as the Fry's Electronics Open at ...

. Holding a one shot lead on the final hole, Willett three-putted the final green for bogey, while Max Homa chipped in for birdie, ultimately giving Homa the title.

Personal life

Willett married Nicole Harris in 2013. They reside in

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

, Yorkshire. Their first child, a son, was born in 2016, just a few days before his victory at the 2016 Masters. Their second child was born in 2018. Willett has described his father, Steve, as the best sports psychologist he has known. Willett is a supporter of

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Willett is a member of Lindrick Golf Club.

Amateur wins

*2007 Yorkshire Amateur, English Amateur *2008 Australian Amateur Stroke Play Championship, Spanish International Amateur Championship

Professional wins (8)

PGA Tour wins (1)

European Tour wins (8)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

Sunshine Tour The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern and East Africa. For much of its early history it was known either as the Southern Africa Tour or Sunshine Circuit; through sponsorship deals, it has also been known as the F ...

²Co-sanctioned by the

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf professional golf tours, tour in Asia except for Japan (which has its own Japan Golf Tour). It is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on ...

* The DP World Tour Championship, Dubai and

are also Rolex Series tournaments. European Tour playoff record (1–0)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2015 Open Championship – 2016 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)

Results in The Players Championship

WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" = tied
C = Cancelled after the first round due to the

Results in World Golf Championships

''Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.'' ¹Cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = No tournament
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Amateur * European Boys' Team Championship (representing England): 2005 *

Jacques Léglise Trophy The Jacques Léglise Trophy is an annual amateur boys' team golf competition between Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe. It was first played in 1977, as a one-day match before the Boys Amateur Championship, but since 1996 it has ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2005 *

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland):

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

* Bonallack Trophy (representing Europe): 2008 (winners) Professional *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(representing England):

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

* EurAsia Cup (representing Europe):

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

(winners) *

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

(representing Europe) :

Ryder Cup points record

References

External links

* * * *
Danny Willett's Junior Championship at Bondhay Golf Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willett, Danny English male golfers European Tour golfers PGA Tour golfers Winners of men's major golf championships Ryder Cup competitors for Europe Olympic golfers for Great Britain Golfers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's golfers English expatriate golfers in the United States Golfers from Sheffield 1987 births Living people 21st-century English sportsmen