Danny Willett hailed a “ridiculously awesome” 12 days in his life after claiming his first major title with a dramatic victory in the 80th Masters.
Willett’s wife Nicole had been due to give birth to the couple’s first child on Sunday, but Zachariah James Willett arrived on March 29 to allow his proud new father to play in the year’s first major.
The 28-year-old was the 89th and last player to register after only arriving at Augusta National on Monday, but took advantage of a dramatic collapse from defending champion Jordan Spieth, who then had to present Willett with the famous green jacket.
“It’s just crazy, just surreal,” Willett said after a flawless closing 67 gave him a three-shot victory over Spieth and playing partner Lee Westwood. “Words can’t really describe the feelings and emotions. I’ve won a couple of golf tournaments around the world, but this is just a different league. It’s a major. It’s the Masters.
“I’m not quite sure which is better, this day or last Tuesday. I always said that I wouldn’t come here if he wasn’t born by now, which stuck. Fortunately enough, he listened to my prayers and he came early.
“It’s just been the most ridiculously awesome 12 days I guess. Words can’t describe what I’m feeling right now, but words definitely can’t describe how I was feeling last Tuesday when you get to hold something that me and my wife have made. It’s just been incredibly surreal.”
Cheers everyone!!!! @TheMasters @TeamISM @RyderCupEurope @EuropeanTour @Smartie13 @Nicolewillett88 #greenjacket ⛳️⛳️ pic.twitter.com/v4aBP8KOHo
— Danny Willett (@Danny_Willett) April 11, 2016
Spieth had birdied four holes in a row from the sixth to reach the turn with a five-shot lead and seemingly guarantee he would join Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods in winning back-to-back Masters titles.
However, the world number two – who had led for seven rounds in succession following his wire-to-wire victory last year – then dropped shots at the 10th and 11th and ran up a quadruple-bogey seven on the 12th after hitting two balls into Rae’s Creek in front of the green.
Spieth, who has now finished second, first and second in his three Masters appearances, said: “It’s tough, really tough. We still have the confidence that we are a closing team, we can close. I have no doubt about that ability. It was just a very tough 30 minutes for me that I hopefully never experience again.
“But boy, you wonder about not only just the tee shot on 12, but why can’t you just control the second shot, you know, and make five at worse, and you’re still tied for the lead. Big picture, this one will hurt. It will take a while.
“I knew the lead was five with nine holes to play. And I knew that those two bogeys weren’t going to hurt me. But I didn’t take that extra deep breath and really focus on my line on 12. Instead I went up and I just put a quick swing on it.”
Spieth admitted it would take him a long time to get over squandering a gilt-edged chance to win back-to-back Masters titles.
The 22-year-old, who has now finished second, first and second in his three Masters appearances, said: “It’s tough, really tough.
“Four birdies in a row and I knew that even par (on the back nine) is good by at least a shot and sometimes that makes it hard. You go away from the game plan and start playing conservative. A few weak swings and suddenly I am not leading any more.
“We still have the confidence that we are a closing team, we can close. I have no doubt about that ability. It was just a very tough 30 minutes for me that I hopefully never experience again.
“But boy, you wonder about not only just the tee shot on 12, but why can’t you just control the second shot, you know, and make five at worse, and you’re still tied for the lead. Big picture, this one will hurt. It will take a while.
“I knew the lead was five with nine holes to play. And I knew that those two bogeys weren’t going to hurt me. But I didn’t take that extra deep breath and really focus on my line on 12. Instead I went up and I just put a quick swing on it.”
Spieth enjoyed a wire-to-wire victory and also led after each of the first three rounds this week, but struggled to reproduce the form of his opening 66 and was pleased to receive help from his coach Cameron McCormick before the final round.
“I didn’t ask for him,” Spieth added. “He texted me and said, hey, would you like it if I came back? I said, sure. It can only help me if he’s here.
“He likes for me to be self-reliant. But at the same time the wheels kind of came off the last three holes on Saturday and I think he felt that just his voice would bring my confidence back into my swing, and it certainly did.
“He knew what was wrong and he knew that if he were here watching shots on the range it would make a difference. And it did, my confidence going into the first hole was fantastic.
“But, listen, I had my B-minus game tee to green and I made up for it around the greens with my putter. Ultimately you just have to have your “A” game every single part, and I just didn’t have those iron swings, as it showed on the back nine.”