	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 20, 2010

Danny Willett

VIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND

GORDON SIMPSON: Danny, well, it's hard to believe that that is your first competitive round over the West Course at Wentworth, but it is, and it's a 65, 6-under par and it leads the BMW PGA Championship. You could hardly have wished for a better debut I would have thought.
DANNY WILLETT: No, really good start. Me and Malcolm played it quite a few times, been on the golf course a lot, trying to map it out and see the best way to get it around and happy with the start.
GORDON SIMPSON: Does it fit your eye over the golf course, or it would appear to.
DANNY WILLETT: Yeah, it does, very similar to American-style golf course; you've got your big trees. It's fairly soft at the minute, and I hear in previous years been quite firm. Fairly soft, you've got to flight the ball pretty high into the green to get it close.
GORDON SIMPSON: You've had a pretty good start to your European Tour career but a top performance this week would certainly take you to another level I'd imagine.
DANNY WILLETT: Yeah, it's been a steady year and a half now, quite a few Top 10's, good stroke average, but it would be good to try and press on and see if we can get in contention a few more times.

Q. Does it feel like a really good start to your career given what Rory has done, because you came through at the same time?
DANNY WILLETT: Yeah, know there are different ways to look at it. It took Rory probably a year and a bit to get his first win. Obviously I've been out a little bit longer now, but I just need to really concentrate on what I'm doing and press on and try to get into the top 100, top 50 in the world and hopefully the door and the opportunities will come up for me.
GORDON SIMPSON: Did you think there were nine birdies out there today? Because you managed them.
DANNY WILLETT: I didn't plan on any in practise, no. We hit it pretty good, and we holed quite a lot of putts. So, you know, you hit it all right and you also putt like that, you're going to make a good score. The greens have a bit slow compared to playing in previous years. They are rolling really good with the new grass down. If you get on a good pace, you can hole them well.
GORDON SIMPSON: You said, "we," so presumably the old head on the bag, Malcolm, does help things dramatically, doesn't it.
DANNY WILLETT: Yeah, obviously, I'm quite an excitable character, and Malcolm has obviously been around and seen it all. So Malcolm brings me back down when he needs to, and he kind of keeps my head on, which is really good.

Q. I know you've not been on Tour and not been in position that many times, but in your amateur career, do you regard yourself as a finisher?
DANNY WILLETT: I mean, in the amateur game, every time I had a sniff, I finished it off, really, my last year of amateur golf. You know, down to even Walker Cup last green was, again, a lot of people have missed that and botched that, but I haven't really had the chances on Tour. I have never been leading going down the last few holes, had a chance in Malaysia, got a little bit unlucky, but never really had that chance. Hopefully have it sometime soon and see if I can.

Q. Did you start the season thinking, I've got to win this year to keep up with Rory and the contemporaries?
DANNY WILLETT: Yeah, I'd be lying if I didn't say -- if I didn't. I'm always trying to win every week I come out, and trying to get the game in shape.
But yeah, it's almost -- it's been good mentally this year, actually, just saying, well, even if I'm not hitting it perfect, swinging it perfect, you can still score in different ways. So I've kind of changed my mental attitude a little bit towards stuff. And needing to win, is a bit of a strong word. It would be good to win, but it's not a necessity this year. It will come soon if I just keep playing good golf.

Q. You say you're excitable, you want to get better and win tournaments as quickly as you can; and the Tour is a grind, it's not the amateur game and every week is a grind to make the cut and do stuff, but you're used to that now. Do you think you have a foundation to go on?
DANNY WILLETT: In the amateur game, you can have one bad round in your tournament, and it won't really drop you back too many places. And out here it's bunched every week and there's so much going on that you really need to be on top of your game for all four rounds if you're going to have a good chance of winning come Sunday.

Q. Could you give us a couple of examples of your excitable nature?
DANNY WILLETT: I am a bit hot-headed. I'm fairly giddy all the time. I think trying to -- under pressure and stuff, maybe not playing as good as I feel I should, or on that particular day, sometimes gets me a bit hot under the collar, but working with Malcolm and Graeme and Brian and stuff, we have come out of that quite a bit. It's getting better.

Q. Could you talk us through how you played the 18th and what you think of the hole?
DANNY WILLETT: I mean, I didn't play it last year. Obviously remember watching it on TV, people hitting irons and rescues and stuff down to the corner, and then you can get up from 260 out, because you could run it in.
With the tee up today, I mean, we just hit rescue because it's strange, we can hit driver in the water that goes across, and you can hit 3-wood in the traps, so there's not really anywhere to hit it. We just played it a three-shot which is the best way for me, I'm pitching it well at the minute; so it's the best way to do it.
You get in there with 4- or 5-iron, it's a chance to go for a flag, but if the flag is on the right, there's really no point, because you can't really struggle to get up-and-down from the right trap.
Today was a good flag to go for it with the flag being left, right bunkers, just with the tee being up there's not real a shot off the tee that's going to get you anywhere decent. You'll be on the downslope if you hit too far up. The hole in general, I haven't played it before, but it's not going to be maybe as excitable as last year. You're not going to see any eagles to finish -- you could. It's pretty difficult. But you're going to see quite a lot of birdies, quite a lot of bars.

Q. You can see scenarios where you go for it in two, would you?
DANNY WILLETT: Yeah, you need eagle to win, there's no point in laying back, is there. You need par to win, you're going to be taking three shots all day long. So you can see. I just don't think it maybe is, you know, quite as exciting coming down the stretch as it used to be.
Obviously 17, as well, is quite a tough one to get it up on the green. Such a long hole, you're coming up in 3-wood, you have to hope you get a good bounce to get up in two. I think the finish is made there for maybe a few more birdies and pars, you know, as opposed to the odd eagle thrown in.

Q. Have you taken anything from the fact that so many of the old guard have said experience goes out the window now because it's so radically different?
DANNY WILLETT: It's good for me, me and my coach said that before we came, nobody has played here before like this, obviously you could come down early, but obviously nobody has played competitive golf. I played 12 holes Monday, played about 13 holes on Tuesday just to keep going around, just to get a feel for the place to see where you could hit it and where you can't hit it.
I think with it being like this this year, I think experience plays maybe in the trees with how the winds swirls at times. That's where Malcolm comes in really well on that. He's been around here millions of times, but as opposed to new players coming in, I think it's a pretty even field this year.

Q. Just to clarify, 5-wood off the tee on 18?
DANNY WILLETT: Rescue, yeah.

Q. Did you go for it in two at 17?
DANNY WILLETT: No. We had like 270 front-ish, so we just chipped a 4-iron around the corner.

Q. Do you see yourself going for it in two there?
DANNY WILLETT: 17? 17, you would, if you had a reasonable flag. Again, with how it shapes up off the green, you know, you're probably going to get it closer than 80 yards than what you are 20 yards away from a tight flag. So depends how you're feeling and how your game is shaping up.

Q. So I have to ask you then, is this the Wentworth as a boy you would have dreamed of playing?
DANNY WILLETT: I mean, yeah, it's good. It's a great golf course. It's nice to have such a prestigious event in England, to come here, a few familiar faces, cheering for you and cheering for the English side to do well. It's a great place to come.

Q. Would take us through 17 and 18, the clubs.
DANNY WILLETT: 17, hit driver off the tee, because if you do hit driver, you can go for it. But we hit driver off the tee just to the right side. Got up in the rough and then hit 4-iron down to about -- 51 front, 77 flag, tried to pitch it 74-ish pitched it close to about three feet, made birdie.
Then rescue into the last, tried to hit 180 second shot to leave about 90, hit 7-iron down and hit 56 in from 89 yards -- yeah, about three feet, right edge.

Q. When you set goals at the beginning of a year like this, where you are in your career having played Walker Cup is it too farfetched, does Ryder Cup drift into your thoughts?
DANNY WILLETT: It depends. I think on World Ranking, I'm a struggle to get in The Ryder Cup this year. Obviously you've got the Europeans are so strong in the top kind of 25 in the world; we've got loads in there.
But on the money ranking side, I think if I can keep pressing on, you know, obviously you need to win, really, to have a good chance -- Ollie Wilson a few years ago, but I think it's going to need a win or two to get in. Probably you'll need to get to the million and a half Euro mark. It's doable. It's a little bit out there but it's definitely in the cards if you can get a big win under your belt.
GORDON SIMPSON: Well, Danny, brilliant play today. Keep it up tomorrow. Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297