Prospects look bright for Willett after win in Cologne

Danny Willett shed the internal doubts and delivered on years of promise to land his maiden European Tour title in dramatic fashion yesterday.

The 24-year-old, from Sheffield, prevailed on the fourth hole of a play-off with Australia’s Marcus Fraser to win the BMW International Open in Cologne, Germany.

Victory earned Willett almost £270,000 but its value to the Yorkshireman’s career prospects is worth considerably more.

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Coming as it does in his 106th event, it will finally give him the belief that he can win at Europe’s elite level and the confidence to go on and claim many more honours.

In 19 of his previous tournaments Willett has finished in the top 10, but this is new territory for the Rotherham Golf Club member and one he should get used to.

The former world No 1 amateur has always had the talent to prosper, but there have been questions about his mental strength, particularly from himself.

Now he has overcome the tallest hurdle – a first win – his career could really take off.

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“You do have those doubts when you’re in your bad spells,” he said last night after a win that should see him climb back into the world’s top 100 this morning.

“You doubt whether you’re good enough to compete, whether you’re good enough to win.

“I’ve been in some terrible places with it mentally, so this is really amazing – 106 is quite a lot of events.

“You’d hope it would come quicker, but I’ve had a lot of top 10s, a lot of top fives, and it just proves the level of golf I’m playing is good.

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“I wasn’t quite sure I was playing well enough to win but doing it now shows I was.

“I’ve had some ups and downs in the last 18 months, but I’m injury-free now and I want to thank everybody for the support they’ve given me.”

Although it was a delightful shot from under the grandstand which nearly dropped into the hole that proved the killer blow on the 76th hole, Willett attributed his victory to a clear frame of mind.

Willett said: “It was brilliant, just amazing, this week has been surreal and I’ve felt very calm in myself.

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“I knew my game was in a good place and for the first time I’ve just tried not to press too hard, too early.

“I’ve just played golf and enjoyed it and let things happen.

“And I’ve proved to myself that I can do it, with all the nerves jangling, the hands shaking.

“To hole a nice three-footer on the 72nd to get into the play-off and then a couple of good ones here and there. It’s just unreal.”

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Having thrown away a three-stroke lead on Saturday, Willett was given a reprieve when Fraser bogeyed the 456-yard final hole.

That meant a tie on the 11-under-par mark of 277 after Willett’s superb three-iron escape from close to the trees and the pair had to play the 18th four more times to settle the issue.

First they parred it with Fraser holing from 12 feet, then they bogeyed it with Willett missing from six feet, then they parred it again.

Fraser, twice a winner on the circuit, was favourite to land the title when he was 30 feet away in two, and the adrenalin pumping through the Yorkshireman’s veins saw him send his ball over the green.

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But his wonderful chip landed just two feet away and Fraser three putted to earn Willett the title.

“It was a good chip,” said Willett modestly.

“I honestly thought I had it on the first hole but I said to Ryan (caddie), get me a banana, get me a drink, because you cannot think somebody is going to miss and hand it to you.

“My mental state has been brilliant this week, the best I’ve ever been and I’m hoping I can learn from it and use it for the rest of the season.”

Willett set up the chance for a maiden victory with a 69 on Saturday.

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He admitted to a fitful night’s sleep as he lay awake thinking of what might unfold over the next 24 hours, and even though a 73 meant his lead evaporated, he was still calm enough to hold his nerve.

“I started the final round great,” said the 2007 Yorkshire Amateur champion and Walker Cup player.

“I had the ball under control, I don’t think I missed a green on the front nine.

“And then it was just getting to the stage where the hands were a bit wet, the towel was a bit wet, everything was becoming that little more difficult and tricky.

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“But I battled through well, I got fortunate on the 72nd, but in order to win – and I’ve seen it enough on television – you need a little bit of luck.

“Then the play-off was mental. I thought I had a good chance on the first play-off hole and he holed a good one, then vice versa on the next when I holed another five-footer.

“Its disappointing that Marcus missed that short one, you don’t want to see that happen.

“But it had been a long old battle to finish the championship and a hell of a lot of golf.”

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Willett’s win opens a number of doors. He will now contest the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio in August and will potentially get a second chance at the US PGA Championship at Kiawah Island the following week if he does indeed wake to find himself in among the world’s top 100 this morning. And now that he is a member of the winner’s club on Tour, he will also take his place in the lucrative Volvo Golf Champions event in January.

“It gives you a little bit of lee-way to try different things, to travel the world,” he said.

“I’m in the WGC Bridgestone and the Golf Champions, but the big thing for me is the world ranking points.

“I dropped a long way from a high of 64th with the injuries. So hopefully that will get me back up somewhere near the top 100.”

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England’s Melissa Reid held on to her overnight lead to beat Italian Diana Luna by one stroke as she recorded an emotional victory at the Raiffeisenbank Prague Golf Masters.

Alan Dunbar became the third Northern Irishman to win the Amateur Championship.

Dunbar, easily the lowest-ranked player in September’s Walker Cup, beat Austrian Matthias Schwab, 17, on the final green of the 36-hole final at Royal Troon.