European No 1 Willett now gearing up for Masters bow

Sheffield’s Danny Willett tees off at the WGC-Cadillac Championship in Florida, a prestigious event which is his reward for winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa in December at the outset of the 2015 European Tour season.

That win not only propelled him towards the world’s top 50 and into the Cadillac and next month’s Masters for the first time, but also saw him earn enough money to start the season on top of the ‘Race to Dubai’ standings.

A fourth-place finish the following week helped him consolidate that position, and even though he has only played four times on the European Tour this season with people like Rory McIlroy winning in that time, it is still the name of the 27-year-old Yorkshireman that peers down on everyone else.

As much as Willett wants to preserve that status all the way through to the season’s denouement in November, performing strongly over the next six weeks while shuttling back and forth to America, is the more immediate goal.

After the Cadillac at Doral this week, Willett will play in Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Invitational and the Shell Houston Open before making his bow at Augusta, and is also hoping to secure an invite into next week’s Valspar Championship in Florida.

“That’s one thing that’s going to be interesting this year, playing a few regular US PGA Tour events,” said Willett, who has not competed since withdrawing from February’s Malaysian Open as part on the ongoing process of managing a lower back injury.

“It will be interesting to see how they compare against a major, for example, and how they compare against a WGC and a regular European Tour event.

“But it’s an exciting time.

“Doral is a guaranteed four-rounder. It’s a nice one to start with because you can ease your way in, you know you’ve not got the added pressure of trying to make a cut.

“I’ll hopefully blow off a few of the cobwebs, having not played for a while.

“This stretch is all about gearing up towards Augusta.

“As much as actually qualifying for the Masters is a pat on the back, I’ve got to get the game ready to go there and try and win.”

On being top of the European Tour’s order of merit, Willett added: “It’s great to see your name up there.

“You can’t be No 1 if you don’t win that first event, and it was a big enough one that it’s going to keep me up there for a while.”