Danny Willett reveals putter problems at US Open
Last Updated: 20/06/16 2:10am
Masters champion Danny Willett refused to get too downbeat after a disappointing US Open but did reveal a run-in with his Augusta-winning putter.
Final leaderboard
The Englishman came into Oakmont following a memorable triumph in Georgia to claim the year's opening major and while he made the cut he was never in a position to trouble the top of the leaderboard.
A final round of 71 made for a nine-over par total to leave him well down the field and when asked about the reasons for a low-key week was quick to reveal that the Masters-winning flat stick bore the brunt of the problems.
"The putter has been bad all week, I had a couple I finished out with a wedge yesterday," Willett said.
"Just a bad week really on the greens. They're tricky to read, tricky to keep the pace and line the same. Obviously, the starting and stopping on Thursday, Friday, pace changed a little bit, not too much, but it's enough to kind of throw out and things just didn't quite go our way.
"It's now in two pieces [the putter]. We'll have to get it refurbed, and then I won't be using it again. Luckily, we had a couple of positives this week. I'll end up keeping it. I don't know, I might pull it back out. Pull it back out of retirement once."
Willett also felt that coming in as a major champion didn't put any extra pressure on him, rather the course took it's toll and not just on him as Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson did not even make the cut.
"It was nice. I don't think there was that much focus," he added
"You've still got, Jordan defending, you had Rory and Jason and everyone playing pretty good golf. As you can see by the guys who missed the cut, it's one of them golf courses that you don't need to be that far off and it can jump up and bite you.
"It seemed like every time we missed a fairway, we have to chip outside."
