Danny Willett details career ups and downs as Norwich look for revival
Thursday 30 January 2020 14:03, UK
Norwich have turned to former Masters champion Danny Willett as a source of inspiration in their battle for Premier League survival.
Willett met with the Canaries' players and staff at their training ground earlier this week and detailed the highs and lows of his career, which he revived last year following a dramatic slump in form coupled with a series of injuries.
The Yorkshireman enjoyed worldwide fame with his memorable victory at the Masters in 2016, a win which lifted him into the world's top 10 for the first time, but two years later he had plummeted to 462nd in the world rankings after missing the cut at the BMW PGA Championship.
But Willett refused to give in and his hard work and determination paid off with a big win at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, and his Wentworth torment of 2018 was replaced by tears of joy last autumn when he powered to victory over the likes of Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed.
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Norwich remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League having won only four of their 24 matches this season, but they hope an open and honest pep talk from Willett could provide the spark for a big finish to the campaign.
"It was nice to come down and chat to the guys about some of the issues I've personally had within sport, the highs and lows," Willett told the Norwich City website.
"The lads are obviously in a position where results could have gone better, but they're still working hard. It's just really trying to give them an outlook on what happened to me and how I got over it, so hopefully I helped out a little bit!
"I think the lads were listening closely to the ups and downs and how certain things aren't going to last forever. You've just got to keep working hard, keep knuckling down and know what you're doing is going to help turn things around. Hopefully they took it on board, and hopefully they come through for the rest of the season."
Norwich captain Grant Hanley added: "I enjoyed it, I'm quite a big golf fan myself, so seeing him on the telly and winning the Masters, it doesn't get much bigger than that.
"It was good for the lads to hear somebody speak who has been right to the top of the sport. Sometimes it's difficult to compare an individual sport to a team sport, but some of the stuff he said you can relate to, and it was good to see that side of it."
