Masters 2016: Danny Willett pips Jordan Spieth to Green Jacket at Augusta

Danny Willett of England (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

DANNY Willett claimed a shock Masters win with a superb five-under-par 67 as 2015 champion Jordan Spieth crumbled during a thrilling final round.

The Englishman, 28, won his first major by three shots on five under to become the first British victor in 20 years.

Overnight leader Spieth, 22, led by five shots as he approached the 10th at Augusta, but the American dramatically dropped six shots in three holes.

He ended with a one-over 73, tying for second with England’s Lee Westwood.
Westwood’s three-under-par 69 gave him his second Masters runners-up finish on two under, with Paul Casey, another Englishman, one shot further back in a tie for fourth.

Spieth will be left ruing a remarkable collapse on the iconic par-three 12th.

He twice found the water in front of the green as he carded a quadruple bogey seven – to follow successive bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes.

That catapulted Sheffield’s Willett, who was playing the par-five 15th, into the outright lead – a lead that he would not relinquish after signing for the joint-lowest round of the final day.
Willett is one of the golf’s rising stars, having climbed from outside the top 100 to inside the top 10 in less than two years.

But few would have predicted a first major win in only his second appearance on the unforgiving Augusta course, especially because his participation at the Masters had been in doubt, with wife Nicole due to give birth on the final day.
However, the early arrival of baby Zachariah meant Willett, who said he would have stayed at home if his son had not been born, was able to play.

Willett lay three shots adrift of Spieth on level par going into Sunday after opening rounds of 70, 74 and 72.

But he moved to within a stroke with a birdie at the eighth, his eagle putt just coming up short, on his way to a front-nine 34.

Three successive pars from the 10th and birdies on the 13th and 14th saw him move into the lead as Spieth stumbled.

A further birdie on the par-three 16th kept him clear of the field as he completed one of only two bogey-free final rounds.
The world number 12, who rises to ninth after this win, received a standing ovation as he walked towards the 18th green, on the verge of emulating fellow Englishman Nick Faldo, who won his third and final Green Jacket in 1996.

There was still a nervous wait for Willett though with Spieth needing to birdie the last two holes to force a play-off.

However, the Texan bogeyed the par-four 17th after finding a greenside bunker with his approach, allowing Willett to start his celebrations early.

Spieth was given a sympathetic reception as he trudged towards the clubhouse after a par four on the last but it was no consolation for the emotional two-time major winner.

As Masters tradition dictates, the world number two then had to help Willett into the Green Jacket.
“It’s been crazy,” said Willett. “You can’t really describe the emotions and feelings.

“We all try to play good golf and someone has to win. Fortunately today it was my day. It was a very surreal day when you look back at the ebbs and flows.”

Who is Danny Willett?
+The son of a vicar, he was born on 3 October, 1987 in Sheffield
+Left school at 16 but later attended Jacksonville State University in Alabama on a golfing scholarship
+Won the 2007 English Amateur Championship and in early 2008 became the world’s top-ranked amateur
+Turned professional in 2008 and clinched his first European Tour victory at the 2012 BMW International Open in Germany
+Won twice on the European Tour in the 2015 season and made his Masters debut where he finished tied 38th
+Captured his fourth European Tour victory at the Dubai Desert Classic in February

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