Dubai: Danny Willett believes a late return to form in South Africa stands him in good stead for the Race to Dubai at this week’s European Tour season-ending DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
The 29-year-old Englishman has been flailing of late, burnt out from the toils of a packed schedule with the Olympics and Ryder Cup following swiftly on from his Masters win in April.
But after piecing together two under-par rounds for the first time since September, at last weekend’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa, he now says he’s ready for a final assault.
Willett is second to Henrik Stenson in the money-list but would guarantee overall honours with victory in the last event, regardless of what fellow contenders Stenson, Rory McIlroy and Alex Noren do.
“It was nice to finally get a few rounds under par and get some of the feelings back,” said Willett of his 67 and 69 in Sun City. “I have a little bit more confidence after the last couple of rounds.
“I come to a golf course now that doesn’t necessarily suit me 100 per cent as much it does the other guys,” he added in reference to Stenson, McIlroy and Noren. “But, if I can do what I can control this week, and win a golf tournament, nobody can take it away from me.
“It’s a nice situation to be in, not hoping for others to finish outside the top five or top 10 — if I win I take it all.
“There are a lot of plusses for me this week. There’s not a great deal of pressure, I’m second. If I can somehow topple Henrik, that would be fantastic, but if I don’t, so be it.
“I’d love to finish first in the Race to Dubai at least once in my life but if I finish second for the rest of my life, it’s not that you’re playing bad golf, you’ve still had a massively consistent year,” added Willett, who finished second to McIlroy in the Race to Dubai last season, and has two wins and six top 10 finishes from 24 events this year.
Despite being part of Europe’s losing Ryder Cup squad and gaining notoriety ahead of the event because of a disparaging article his brother Peter had written about American fans, Willett still won his first major and became a father for the first time in 2016.
“I’ve had an amazing year on the whole. I don’t think you can ever expect to go through a full year and not have any downs in there. It’s just been a shame that the lows in the year have come when they have.
“If I’m sat here on Sunday and have had a great week and things have gone my way; it’s not that I won’t already reflect on it as a fantastic year anyway, it’s just I’ll be able to reflect on it as a slightly better year.”
