Sam Torrance: Sheer hard work earned Danny Willett a long overdue return to winning ways
Five holes into the back nine at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on Sunday and it was starting to look very dodgy for leader Danny Willett.
The Englishman – winless since his Masters victory two and a half years ago – had bogeyed twice since the turn and was now just one shot in front of the current Green Jacket holder, Patrick Reed.
What followed was a huge moment. Willett played a sublime 6-iron to within five feet of the flag at 17. It was a really difficult shot but he pulled it off and his reward, with Reed also dropping a shot, was a three-stroke cushion to take up the last.
He saw it out, thanks in part to another shot at 18 from on top of rocks that could have gone anywhere but that he played beautifully, and Willett was a winner again at last. With his family there to share in his joy, it was an emotional moment.
I’m really pleased to see him back at the top of a leaderboard after a rollercoaster few years that took in that Masters win, a bad run of form, being booed at the Ryder Cup in America as Europe lost in 2016 and, earlier this year, falling out of the world’s top 450.
The Yorkshireman has really struggled in that time with injuries, too. Sheer hard work has got his body and his game back to the shape that it should be in.
Winning in Dubai at one of the biggest events on the European Tour is a very big psychological hurdle to have overcome. Players who have gone through a tough spell like his generally don’t win again the first time they find themselves in contention, but, magnificently, he did, holing some terrific putts under pressure.
Willett is a fine golfer, an established winner and still only 31 so there is every reason to believe he can get back to his previous levels. I’ll be interested to watch how he gets on.
Molinari picks Ryder Cup as highlight
Francesco Molinari was the other man toasting a title on Sunday as he clinched the Race To Dubai crown for Europe’s top player of the season.
It’s been a long year for the Italian and you could see he was tired but he coasted to glory in the end, with nearest rival and great friend Tommy Fleetwood unable to mount a challenge in the final event.
Molinari was absolutely the right winner and it was great to hear the Open champion cite, without hesitation, the Ryder Cup win that he was such a key part of as his favourite moment of a stellar year.
Fleetwood kept up the fight all season, last year’s winner mounting a great defence as he has gone from strength to strength in 2018.
He finished in the top 20 at all but one of the Majors and WGC events. Good things happen when you’re there all the time, so that bodes very well for Tommy.
End-of-season boost for Wallace
Tied for second behind Willett with Reed was another Englishman in Matt Wallace, who bounced back from the disappointment of being overlooked for a Ryder Cup place to make a strong finish to his brilliant campaign.
Wallace, who I thought handled the Ryder Cup issue with great dignity, won three times on the European Tour this season and has now climbed into the world top 50 for the first time. What a year.
The European Tour has changed the points system for the Race To Dubai to address the disproportionate weighting given to big events, and that is good news for the likes of Wallace.