Willett plots path to even greater glory

Augusta: Danny Willett has vowed not to wallow in his Masters glory, but instead follow the advice of Sir Alex Ferguson as he sets out on his quest to become the world No?1. The Englishman will take off the next four weeks to spend time with his wife, Nicole, and their two-week-old baby, Zachariah, in their house in Rotherham. But when he resumes at the Players Championship in Sawgrass, he is determined to act on the words of the former Old Trafford manager. The pair spoke at Willett’s party on Sunday evening, first joking that Ferguson had lost a bet on Jordan Spieth to retain his title, but then turning to the serious subject of where next for the 28-year-old. “Fergie had a brilliant piece of advice for me. He said, ‘When I was at Manchester United, we never looked back on what we had achieved. We always looked forward. As soon as we win a trophy, it is forgotten about. The next morning we wake up and try to work hard to win the next trophy.’ “For him to say that puts things back in perspective from a true winner’s point of view. It gave me an insight into what a true champion would think and that’s how I’m sure Rory [McIlroy], Jordan and Jason [Day] think. They don’t rest on their laurels. They are back in the gym working hard or on the range practising, trying to make sure that when they next come out they will be competing.” .Willett was speaking at the house rented by his management company where he talked to Ferguson. .Laughing about the previous evening’s contrast between the Augusta clubhouse and the marquee in the back garden, Willett said: “I went from dinner with the members, with speeches and everything to coming back here at 11pm to find 200 drunk, screaming Northerners - which was awesome.” Eventually Willett retired to bed at 6am, before rising two hours later to go for a jog. “I had a lot of adrenalin and just decided to go running for 20 minutes on my own with my own thoughts.” While on the run, he plotted his path to becoming world No?1. He is clearly not satisfied with being the top-placed Englishman, having leapfrogged Justin Rose into ninth in the rankings. “There’s eight more steps to go,” Willett said. “I have self-belief and I work incredibly hard and my ambition in my own mind has always been to be world No?1. This obviously gives me more belief that I can do it. You strive for perfection every time you practise, every time you play. But to be able to get there you need to win big tournaments, such as the Masters. “I guess this does make me part of the conversation with Jordan, Jason, Rory and Rickie [Fowler]. The game is in really good hands for the next 10 to 15 years and fortunately enough I’ll be part of it.” It is a lucrative club to have joined with the pounds 1.25?million (Dh6.5 million) first prize being just the start of a windfall expected to top pounds 10?million in the next few years. Sunday’s runner-up Lee Westwood is England’s highest-earning golfer, having amassed more than pounds 37?million in earnings. But sports marketing expert Nigel Currie is confident Willett would go on to overtake Westwood. “He’s definitely set to be England’s highest-paid golfer of all time. If he never won another major, his off-course earnings for the next year or two would be in the region up -towards pounds 5?million. That will -continue or increase further if he goes on and wins other majors,” said Currie, the director of sports marketing agency BrandRapport. “There will be a lot of bonuses that will be triggered by this -anyway from existing sponsorship deals but, in terms of his management looking for new sponsors now, it becomes a whole new ball game for him.” Willett and his manager, Chubby Chandler, are braced for many offers, but the golfer declared that he will not be “compromised by the cash”. He intends to stick to his plan of joining the PGA Tour next year and will keep to his schedule, which includes next month’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, where he will now be the star turn. “I always look at a tournament not for the money but for the world ranking points. The Masters was worth a lot of money but to me the 100 ranking points I earned is much bigger and take me closer to where I want be in the rankings. I’m still six rankings points away from Jason and the guys up there and that is effectively three majors. It’s going to take some brilliant results but I am trending in the right direction at least.” Willett turned down the chance to appear on the New York chat shows to fly home to be with his family. Chandler does not expect him to enjoy too much down time. “He knows exactly how many majors Rory has won and he will want to get up there and past Rory’s tally,” Chandler said. “If you take Tiger [Woods] out, what is the next best tally of majors of the current players - five [by Phil Mickelson]? No matter, at the end of the day Danny can become one of the greats of his time. He won’t be distracted. He knows exactly what he’s trying to do and working towards. Winning the Masters is the start of the journey, not the end.” The one negative for Willett is the long-standing back condition which he believes held him back at the start of his career. An amateur contemporary of McIlroy’s, Willett was the amateur world No?1, but his progress in the professional game was blighted by the injury. However, he sees a specialist every month in London and believes he can now manage the complaint. Coached by the renowned Pete Cowen - another Yorkshireman - Willett is one of the few players not to use a sports psychologist. Chandler credits Willett’s father for the mental resolve that he showed down the stretch on Sunday. A retired Church of England vicar, Steve Willett is his son’s closest confidante. But this was a victory for his country, as well. With five representatives in the top 10, England has never enjoyed such a successful Masters. Westwood achieved his second runner’s-up finish at Augusta and his sixth finish in the top three in the majors. But rather than bemoaning yet another close call, the 42-year-old is emphasising the positives after two years in the doldrums. Westwood is back up to 35 in the world and guaranteed a place in the US Open. He is also up to 10th on the Ryder Cup points list, one place outside the automatic qualifying positions. Westwood is a long odds-on, at the very least, to gain one of Darren Clarke’s wildcards for Hazeltine. “I’m happy to be back in the world’s top 40 and in the top events,” he said. “To be honest, I didn’t have anywhere near my best there, which gives me confidence in itself.” Paul Casey is up to 24th in the rankings after his tie for fourth, while 21-year-old Matt Fitzpatrick rose to 39th courtesy of his tie for seventh. All can now use Willett as inspiration.