A week or so ago, news broke that former Masters champion Danny Willett was considering surgery to repair an injured back, after another ugly performance at Royal Birkdale.
Apparently the injury wasn’t severe enough to pass on a guaranteed payday in Akron at the WGC-Bridgestone.
The 29-year-old Englishman may want to reevaluate that idea, though, because he absolutely embarrassed himself this weekend at Firestone with four rounds of 76-74-74-77 to finish at 21-over.
More troubling for Willett is that the ugly scores are the result of consistently poor play. It’s one thing for a Tour pro to throw in a 76 or 77 with an 8 or 9 on the card that skews the score, it’s quite another story when the scores are the product of steady bogey golf.
Willett’s 72 holes of golf included nothing worse than a double bogey, and he only produced two of them. His other 70 holes consisted of 43 pars, 22 bogeys, and just five birdies.
And this week only stands out because there was no cut and he signed for four scorecards. How bad has it been this year for the former World No. 9?
You’d have to go back to February, during the opening-round of the Honda Classic, to find a sub-70 score from Willett. He shot a 1-under 69 at PGA National, a par-70 course.
Danny Willett’s Rough Season
8/06/17: WGC Bridgestone Invitational 76, 74, 74, 77
7/23/17: British Open 71, 74, 73, 71
7/09/17: Irish Open 71, WD
7/02/17: French Open 72, 73, MC
6/18/17: US Open 81, WD
5/28/17: BMW PGA Championship 72, 73, 76, 73
5/14/17: THE PLAYERS 79, WD
4/16/17: RBC Heritage 71, 78, MC
4/09/17: The Masters 73, 78, MC
3/05/17: WGC Mexico 76, 72, 72, 75
2/26/17: The Honda Classic 69, 72, MC
It’s simply mind-boggling to think this is the same golfer who looked so impressive at Augusta just 16 short months ago.
Yet, it’s more evidence why the world rankings, with a two year roll, are a total joke. Does anyone really think Danny Willett is the 44th best golfer in the world – yet can’t break 70!?
Give me a break.
