9. Danny Willett looks to join select club
Willett enters the 2017 Masters as the defending champion. He understandably carries good feelings and great memories from last year’s romp at Augusta.
Watch defending champion @Danny_Willett arrive at Augusta National for #themasters. pic.twitter.com/D0Vu8gIm3K
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 3, 2017
Here’s what’s likely going to happen. Willett will play decent golf. But by the time Sunday rolls around, he won’t be much of a factor. So, when it comes time for him to put the green jacket on the new champ’s back, he will have had a few hours to get over any disappointment. He’ll sit in the Butler Cabin with a big smile on his face, remembering his ceremony last year and feeling good for the new champ.
More often than not, that’s how the Masters goes.
What are the exceptions? One of them came in 2016, which we’ll get to shortly. Three others came in 1966, 1990, and 2002 with Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, and Tiger Woods, respectively. Those men successfully defended their Masters. Golf lists don’t get much more exclusive and elite than that.
Willett can join that group this week. If he does, he will become an iconic golfer who’s name is mentioned with Nicklaus, Faldo, and Woods at the Masters every single year. Willett’s a mortal man. But the group he has a chance to join is anything but mortal.
Of course, Willett is in position to win a second green jacket in 2017 due to a large assist he got in 2016.
Speaking of which, on to our last storyline.