Danny Willett seeks form boost for Omega European Masters defence
Thursday 1 September 2016 01:09, UK
Danny Willett will be looking to find some pre-Ryder Cup form this week when he returns to Switzerland to try and defend his European Masters title.
Willett has had a mixed campaign since claiming Masters victory in April, with a third-placed finish at the BMW PGA Championship his only other top-20 in his next nine events.
The 28-year-old has missed the cut in three of those starts, including the US Open, as well as finishing 79th in the PGA Championship and 37th in the Olympics.
A narrow victory over Sheffield counterpart Matt Fitzpatrick at Crans-sur-Sierre last year sparked an impressive run of form for Willett, with the Englishman now hoping to find a similar string of results ahead of a Ryder Cup debut.
"I love this week," Willett said. "It's been a crazy 12 months and this win last year really kick-started my little effort back in Europe. I finished sixth at The Open and then came here and won and didn't really look back after that.
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"Unfortunately I finished second in The Race to Dubai, but then I came out this year, won in Dubai and then the Masters.
"It's been a pretty epic 12 months and the golf hasn't been fantastic over the last two or three months, but I'm just trying to get everything back on track now.
"I'm working really hard and hopefully coming back to a place I like and feel comfortable on and hopefully I can have a good week here."
Willett and Fitzpatrick will play the first two rounds together in Switzerland, along with a third member of this year's Ryder Cup team, Andy Sullivan.
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The trio all qualified automatically for the European team which will attempt to secure an unprecedented fourth straight victory at Hazeltine, a team completed on Tuesday by captain Darren Clarke's wildcard selection.
"I just can't wait to get to Minnesota now and go through all the emotions and experiences of it all," Sullivan told Sky Sports. "I'm sure Darren has got his own ideas of who he'd want to be playing with but I'm just thrilled to be on that team.
"I've had a couple of missed cuts in the past couple of weeks but I've worked hard over the weekend and feel like my game is starting to come together now."
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