DANNY WILLETT
2016 DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC CHAMPION
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THE
DUBAI DESERT MASTER
Danny Willett is one of a select few players to have won two European Tour events in Dubai on two different courses. He first won the Dubai Desert Classic in 2016 at Emirates Golf Club and went on to win the Masters Tournament at Augusta National the same year. At the end of 2018 he tamed the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates to win the highly-prized DP World Tour Championship.
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inning a Major for the first time has created a curse for many great players, in having climbed that emotional mountain they struggle to find their mojo again. It appeared after adding the green jacket to his wardrobe the ever-confident Willett was battling to get back in the groove. In 2018, Danny was suffering from a few injury niggles and only placed inside the top 10 on three occasions from 21 starts. But that was all about to change at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, when he shot four sub-70 rounds, to win the European Tour’s flagship event by two shots from Patrick Reed and Matthew Wallace. The win was a huge boost both for this confidence and his bank balance after collecting the $1.3 million first prize. Since then, he has gone on to prove you can never write him off, even when the form book doesn’t predict a top ten finish for the former world amateur number one, he manages to silence the golfing critics. In 2019 he carded another four rounds in the 60s to win the historic BMW Championship by three shots from Jon Rahm. So, as we focus on this year’s DP World Tour Championship, would you bet against him? Probably not, as he lifted more silverware at last month’s Alfred Dunhill Championship at St. Andrews and guess what? Once again he carded four sub-70 rounds to hold off Tyrrell Hatton and Joakim Lagergren. Worldwide Golf met with Danny fresh from his recent holiday to discuss why he plays so well in Dubai and the disappointment of missing out on making The Ryder Cup team.
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