Danny Willett Reflects On 2016 Masters Win, Prepares For Augusta Title Defense

One year ago, Danny Willett capitalized on a series of mistakes from Jordan Spieth to win the Masters Tournament, his first major title.

Danny Willett gears up For 2017 Masters

Willett took the fabled green jacket from Spieth and won the $1.8 million first-place prize.

Now, the 29-year-old Englishman is gearing up for this year’s tournament at Augusta, Georgia which begins April 6.

Willett has reflected on his life-altering win from 2016, and how he hasn’t won a tournament since that event.

“It’s just getting everything in perspective and realizing what you’ve achieved is pretty special, that people don’t do that every day,” Willett told CNN’s Living Golf show. “It’s been a sharp learning curve for me because it did knock me back a little bit.”

Then 28, Willett was the first Brit to win in Georgia since Nick Faldo claimed the last of his three titles in 1996. He was also the first European champion since Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal’s second win in 1999. Willett was ranked 12th in the world at the time.

Willett, a Sheffield native, wasn’t even originally going to participate in the 2016 Masters. His wife was due to give birth to their first child on the final Sunday.

The Englishman vowed to withdraw if his baby didn’t arrive before the tournament began, but his son ended up being born seven days before the first round, so he took a plane out to America.

Willett finished no better than tied 37th in the rest of the year’s three majors.

The reigning Masters champ also had to deal with a loss at the Ryder Cup last year, as well as the fallout from a scathing column his brother Peter wrote about American golf fans around that time.

The Masters victory gave him “unrealistic” expectations, he says.