Danny Willett keeps Race to Dubai hopes alive with super 67
Saturday 12 November 2016 14:49, UK
Danny Willett admitted his "head was in a better place" after he revived his fading Race to Dubai hopes with a third-round 67 at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Willett has been struggling for form since his Ryder Cup debut at Hazeltine, missing the cut at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship before finishing 75th and 68th respectively in Shanghai and Turkey.
He revealed he was also undergoing swing changes in a bid to alleviate his long-standing back problems which prompted him to announce on Friday that he was pulling out of the World Cup of Golf later this month.
Willett, who also withdrew from the British Masters after straining his back in the pro-am, slipped to five over at the halfway stage in South Africa as rounds of 75 and 74 left him six adrift of Race to Dubai leader Henrik Stenson.
But, although Stenson managed a 69 on day three, Willett knocked two shots off the deficit with a superb round given the blustery conditions, making seven birdies against two bogeys to climb back to level par for the tournament.
"It's been a tricky few weeks, but today the head was in a better place and we just scored well around a course that we know well," said Willett, winner at the Gary Player Country Club 12 months ago.
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"We put it in positions because we know these flags pretty good where you can score for great shots. You need to make sure that you are not on the wrong side and we were able to do that and hole a few putts, and it was nice to finally get a low score in there.
"I'm still not hitting it great, and we're still working on it. It's still not quite where I want it to be, but this is a golf course where you can't open your shoulders and really have a go at things. And if you're not quite in a great place, it's not a nice place to be at especially on this course.
"There were birdies in there before, but too many mistakes. Today was a lot of birdies again and just less mistakes. So it's going in the right direction and just in time."
Stenson is projected to have a lead of over half a million points over Willett heading into next week's season-ending DP World Tour Championship, but the Swede is taking nothing for granted.
The Open champion again dug deep to birdie the final two holes for a 69 which got him to four under for the event, and he said: "I'm just trying to stay in it and have a good week. My goal is always to come into the last one is, have it in my own hands and have a chance.
"No matter what happens here on Sunday, I will have that. It's just a question of if we're in front or even or behind. I should hopefully be in front still. I've got to play some good golf next week to wrap it up.
"It was good to see Danny play well. It's a really good score to shoot five-under out there in these conditions. He's had a tough couple of months, so sooner or later he'll find his form again and it seems like this might be the moment."
