Danny Willett undeterred by lack of practice ahead of Players Championship
Wednesday 11 May 2016 18:57, UK
Danny Willett is confident he can contend at The Players Championship despite admitting to being "rusty" having not played a competitive round since winning the Masters.
Willett has enjoyed a lengthy break since his thrilling maiden major victory at Augusta National, spending time with his wife Nicole and their new baby son Zachariah while also fulfilling a number of media commitments that come with being Masters champion.
The 28-year-old admitted on a recent visit to Sky Studios that he had not touched a club since becoming the first Englishman in 20 years to be fitted for a Green Jacket, and that soon became apparent when he hit into water twice while tackling Augusta's 16th hole in the Shot Centre.
Willett played 18 holes with friends at the weekend and managed a nine-hole practice round in Florida on Monday, but he is relishing taking on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass despite his lack of time on the course over the last month.
"It has been a bit of chaos back home with media interviews and stuff, so it has not really been a quiet four weeks I have been expecting, but in a good way obviously," Willett said.
"Every spare minute we have had, we would lock the door and tried to have some alone time, but I have had to obviously go to do media bits with the jacket and stuff, which was pretty cool speaking to different people about things, but I don't think I have been doing anything too daft, and I don't take the jacket to the snooker club!
"I still had a bit of downtime, but I have not played as much golf as I would've liked back at home for various reasons, so yes it is good to be back with the guys practising. Hopefully we can get off to a good start this week.
"I played one round on Saturday with my pals and then played nine holes yesterday which was the only time I have been on the golf course in the last month. I am a little bit rusty, so I'll try and get some work done this week and hopefully, come Thursday, we'll have shaken off a little bit of that."
Willett also insisted he was not being overwhelmed by public expectations, adding: "They are what they are, but I have got my own set of expectations of what I want to do for myself, so I'm not really too fussed about what everyone else thinks.
"I'm just trying to do my bit and if I do what I have done over the last 18 months, two years then I have proved to myself I can do some pretty special things. I'll approach Sawgrass the same as I did Augusta and as I did the week before that. I will take care of my little jobs every day and then hopefully if you do all that, you can shoot some good numbers."
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