Monday 11 April 2016 18:31, UK
Danny Willett ended Europe’s winless run at the Masters and became only the second English winner of the tournament with a landmark victory at Augusta.
Willett took advantage of a final-round collapse from defending champion Jordan Spieth to fire a bogey-free 67 and claim a three-shot win, becoming the first European champion since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999 and the first British winner since Sir Nick Faldo two decades ago.
Despite Willett coming into the week as world No 12 and already being a four-time winner on the European Tour, the Sheffield star was still an unknown quantity to a large section of the American media.
So just who is Danny Willett? We take a look at the player's credentials and how he has risen to the top...
Background
The son of a vicar and a teacher, Willett was born and raised as one of four boys in Sheffield, where he was introduced to the sport by his two older brothers.
Willett's first regular golf experience came during family holidays in Anglesey, where he would play a par three course in what he has described as being "in the middle of a sheep field."
Danny would play regularly at his local Rotherham Golf Club, skipping school during his teenage years to spend time practising on the course.
He has also referenced his dad's influence on his early career as key, stating: "When you're away from golf you need that balance, and he provides it."
Masters destiny
Willett originally suggested he may not feature in golf's opening major of the year, as his wife, Nicole, was due to give birth to their first child on April 10 - the date of Sunday's final round.
Instead, Zachariah James Willett was delivered early via C-section on March 30, enabling Willett to make the trip to Augusta.
If that wasn't enough, his caddie, Jonathan Smart, had 89 on his overalls during the final round, the same number Jack Nicklaus's caddie donned when he claimed the last of his 18 major titles 30 years earlier.
His rise to the top
As an amateur, Willett won honours during two seasons studying in America in Alabama, while he also featured alongside Rory McIlroy in a losing European Walker Cup side against a USA team containing a young Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson.
After winning the 2007 English Amateur Championship and turning professional the following May, Willett posted back-to-back top-20 finishes from his first two starts on the European Tour before securing a full playing card at the end of the season.
Eight top-10s in his first full year were followed by seven more in 2010, Willett ending the Austrian Golf Championship tied-third and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship runner-up to break into the world's top 100.
Willett slipped back down the rankings after making only two further top-10s over the next 18 months, before bouncing back to claim a maiden European Tour title in June 2012 with a play-off victory over Marcus Fraser at the BMW International Open.
The Englishman would have to wait more than two years for his next victory, a four-shot win at the season-opening Alfred Dunhill Championship helping him end 2014 in the world's top 50 to secure a first invite to the Masters.
A semi-final finish at the WGC-Match Play was followed by big weeks in Ireland and at the Open Championship to continue Willett's rise, before he edged past Sheffield compatriot Matt Fitzpatrick to claim a narrow victory at July's European Masters.
Four more top-fives over the remainder of the year, including a final-round 62 to end tied-third in Shanghai at the HSBC Champions, saw Willett finish second on the Race to Dubai and head into 2016 at a new career-high world No 19.
Soon after featuring in Europe's record-breaking EurAsia Cup win in Kuala Lumpur, Willett added a third career victory in February by overcoming a final-round fight with Andy Sullivan at the Dubai Desert Classic.
Willett came close in the WGC-Cadillac Championship when he ended two strokes short of winner Adam Scott, before the 28-year-old secured major glory by triumphing at Augusta.
What's next?
Victory has given Willett a more than 1.2m-point cushion over the chasing pack in the Race to Dubai standings, handing him the early advantage in the battle to end the year as European No 1 for the first time.
The Augusta win also moves Willett above McIlroy to the top of the Ryder Cup points list, leaving him all but certain to be part of Darren Clarke's plans for Hazeltine as a rookie this autumn.
A second win of 2016 sees Willett leapfrog Justin Rose as the top Englishman in the world rankings, increasing his chances of representing Britain when golf makes its return to the Olympics in Rio this summer.
There's also the possibility of Willett featuring more heavily in America in the future, with green jacket winners being given a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour, meaning we could see golf's latest major champion juggling his time either side of the Atlantic in seasons to come.
