Danny Willett says it will be a source of great pride to play in front of home crowds at The Belfry when he resumes hosting duties for the second consecutive year at the Betfred British Masters.
Last year, the 34-year-old joined an illustrious list of British golfers to host the tournament since it was restored to the DP World Tour schedule in 2015, but no fans could attend at the iconic Brabazon Course – a four-time Ryder Cup venue – due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nevertheless, the eight-time winner on Tour still enjoyed the responsibility and is thoroughly looking forward to welcoming the home crowds this week, including his own friends and family, to enjoy the action at the tournament which bears his name.
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“Last year was good fun, to get an insight into a few of the roles and how it kind of played out,” said Willett at his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, we didn't get the fans in after COVID restrictions. This year, fingers crossed, we will get 50,000 people through the doors over the next four and a half days, and it is going to be a really special moment to be able to have friends and family down celebrating.
“It's a proud thing, because not only you're hosting and trying to help the Tour out, and obviously Betfred have been great sponsors again, but it's a pretty cool way of kind of showing what you've been able to achieve over the last 12 years on Tour. It’s going to be a nice week and a pretty proud moment in my career.”
Willett is eager to put on a good showing show and mount a challenge for the title, after he finished tied 11th last year as fellow Englishman Richard Bland memorably won his first DP World Tour title at the 478th attempt, following a play-off against Italy’s Guido Migliozzi.
“From tonight onwards, it's kind a case of get your head down and get ready to play golf,” the 2016 Masters champion added. “You're hosting but to really host well, it would be really nice to be in or around that leaderboard on Sunday.”
Willett, who marked his 34th birthday last year by winning his eighth and most recent DP World Tour title at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, finished tied 12th at the Masters Tournament last month – his best performance so far this year.
He admits that while his game is yet to spark so far this season, he is confident that the work he has done with coach Sean Foley and his experience on Tour will enable him to grasp any opportunities for victory that present themselves in future events.
“The one thing me and Sean wanted to do over the winter period was to get that consistency back in ball flight and how things feel on a day-to-day basis,” said Willett, who has only missed one cut in his last seven events.
“I have no issues getting in contention and knowing that if I get in contention, I'm going to be fine. It was the getting in contention that I was struggling with before. So hopefully this is going to give me a few more bites at the cherry.”
Following this week’s event, Willett will return to America and compete on the PGA TOUR before he returns to play at the Genesis Scottish Open in the week before the Open Championship at St Andrews, while he plans to play in a run of events back on the DP World Tour, beginning at the Omega European Masters in August.
Willett has once again selected Prostate Cancer UK as the official charity of the 2022 Betfred British Masters and praised title partner Betfred for their continued support.
Betfred has again pledged £1,000 for every birdie and £2,000 for every eagle made by Willett at this week’s tournament and will also donate £50,000 for the first hole-in-one by a professional on the 14th hole – the same hole that Sir Nick Faldo famously made an ace at the 1993 Ryder Cup.
“It shows [Betfred’s] massive support over these last two years, with me being the host and the even the previous three or four years before that in hosting the British Masters, they have been tremendous in it,” said Willett, a long-time supporter of Prostate Cancer UK.
“During COVID, to still keep up the sponsorship and prize fund as they have, they have been amazing.”
