BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

September 19, 2024

Danny Willett

Wentworth Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. That's a really nice start at a place that you've got plenty of happy memories at.

DANNY WILLETT: Yeah, I think them first kind of 12 holes are the easiest out there. Then you turn back into that really strong wind on 13, 14, 15, 16, pretty tricky. Let one slip there. Obviously didn't pick one up on the last two which is a shame. Got a bit unlucky on the last.

68, great start to the week. I feel like I've been behind the 8-ball pretty quickly the last couple of months when I've started tournaments, so it's quite nice to get one where you're relatively above water.

Q. What was the feeling coming into this week? Obviously you've been going through the rehab, coming back from injury, not had the results behind you that you would have wanted.

DANNY WILLETT: Yeah, played last week in Napa. Although the score wasn't amazing. The feelings of what I was trying to do on the golf course, and the shots were better. It's a tricky little golf course, Napa. I didn't quite roll it really well. It was one of them where you come off and you go, that could have been something better there, whereas a couple of the weeks before were just rubbish.

So yeah, took a little bit of, I won't say momentum because obviously missed the cut, but good feelings out on the course on the PGA TOUR and hit some proper golf shots.

And then we've had a few good days' work here working on things. And like I said before, it's a golf course where -- I don't think I've ever really changed my game plan year-on-year, not by much, anyway. You have certain shot, certain flags that you remember and you've hit good shots. It's nice to be at a golf course where I've had really good results.

Q. How tough has it been coming back from the shoulder injury and trying to compete?

DANNY WILLETT: Tougher than I thought.

Q. Really?

DANNY WILLETT: Yeah, the first, six, seven months when I weren't doing anything was phenomenal. Just sat in the sofa, go to the gym every day, working out, do our bits. But zero pressure; it could take as long as it wanted to.

I think once I started getting back into trying to get ready to play, we just realised how insane this golf game drives you. And yeah, just not quite being able to put my finger on it.

Obviously played Augusta but played because conditions were perfect for me to have a chance. It was firm; it was fast; it was windy, and then yeah, other golf tournaments I've played I've obviously not performed and not taken much from.

It's tricky because then you come home and for the life of you, you want to go practise and do everything well but by the same token, you want to be at home and do everything that you can with Nik and the boys. It's been a tricky little juggling act, but I feel like I'm finding a nice little way around it, a nice little place.

Yeah, got a few nice weeks coming up in Europe to play, and yeah, just nice to be back, see friends and playing in front of people who like you.

Q. You tend to exude positivity, but have there been doubts? Have you worried for your career? Have you felt the frustrations?

DANNY WILLETT: Yeah, you know, when you're trying, working, doing everything you think is right and shooting 75, it's hard to take the positives from it. That's what I mean, even last week when I missed the cut, the last few weeks, I've still been building up to be better as a general whole blueprint. Moves are coming back. Speeds are coming back. You know what you're doing. So you're not as anxious about playing because you know if you make a certain move, it's going to do something.

It's just taking long. Even silly things, putting, reading greens, different pins. It's everything, really, and then it's a juggling act of, I've got to play enough to keep competitive but I can't play too much because that takes your numbers off. Just trying to figure it all out. We wanted a nice little run at the end of this year to where we can have enough events next year from January on the PGA TOUR to try to give it a bit of a run.

Q. Obviously you've got great memories of here from 2019. You also have that habit of winning big when necessarily the kind of form line going into something has not necessarily been there.

Thoughts for the next three days?

DANNY WILLETT: You like surprises, don't you. It's one of those where for me, like playing form doesn't always -- I don't know why, it just never really has ever -- it's not like I play well one week and the next week you win. I've often won the week after I've missed the cut or had an average finish.

For me, it's more what I'm doing. Internally, I know what I'm doing. Internally if you make certain moves and do certain things, the ball should do what it should, and then you know, for me that then gives me the confidence to go and play. Then if I do get a sniff down the stretch on a Sunday, I'm usually pretty good.