As a former Masters champion, Danny Willett will definitely be at Augusta National for the first major of the year.
Whether he is there just to sample the delights of Jon Rahm’s menu for the champions dinner or swinging a golf club in anger is less certain as he battles to regain full fitness following shoulder surgery.
Willett looked set to challenge for a second BMW PGA Championship title in September when he covered his first 12 holes in six under par, only to aggravate a shoulder tear after hitting his tee shot on the 15th.
The 2019 champion played through the pain barrier and completed all 72 holes at Wentworth but underwent surgery the following week and faces a race against time to compete at Augusta, where he won in dramatic style in 2016.
“The surgery went really well, I’m back hitting balls right now but Augusta is six weeks away. It’ll be very, very close,” Willett told the PA news agency at the launch of Prostate Cancer UK’s fundraising challenge, The Big Golf Race.
“It’s been a long time rehabbing it just to get it up to strength to be able to take the capacity and the load that it needs to. We’ll know more when we start practising in America as to how we’re getting on.
“The beauty of potentially playing [the Masters] is the fact that I know the golf course that well I’m probably not going to be slogging around 18 holes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in practice rounds.
“I’ll be able to take it a little bit easier but I also don’t want to go there and just make up the numbers.”
Willett had been managing his shoulder problem for several months before it flared up at Wentworth and the extent of the damage was only discovered when he went under the knife.
“We thought there was one tear and when the surgeon went in he realised there were two tears and a good bit of damage around the cartilage and a few cysts he had to clear out,” Willett said.
“It’s a pretty intrusive surgery and it was a bit scary when I first came out and I could barely lift my own hand. You wonder if you’ve done the right thing but now it feels pretty good.
“Ultimately I’m only 36 so I’ve still got a hell of a long time left in my career, so to have this time out now will hopefully mean I can come back and prolong my career and have another good 10 or 15 years at it.”
Willett is now into his fourth year of supporting Prostate Cancer UK’s fundraising efforts and raised £38,000 as host of the British Masters for two years as title sponsors Betfred donated £1,000 for every birdie he made.
The 36-year-old admits it was “staggering” to learn that prostate cancer affects one in eight men in the UK and is backing this year’s The Big Golf Race, which challenges golfers to play 36, 72 or even 100 holes in a day.
“It’s a great charity to support,” Willett said. “As men, if something’s not right or we don’t feel well, very rarely do we go and get it sorted so it was about making people aware to go and get checked.
“One of my old England coaches Steve Rolley was diagnosed and fortunately they got it early enough and he’s now fine. It’s amazing how many people it has affected that you know, but how little information there was out there about it.”
::: Danny Willett is supporting Prostate Cancer UK’s golf fundraising challenge, The Big Golf Race, which is calling on golfers to take on 36, 72 or 100 holes in a day to raise money and help save men’s lives. To sign up, visit prostatecanceruk.org/get-involved/activity/golf/the-big-golf-race
PGA Championship: Woods determined to 'keep fighting' after missing cut at Valhalla
Tiger Woods vowed he would "keep fighting" after missing the cut at this year's PGA Championship.
The four-time champion will be absent from the weekend at the second major of the season, having carded rounds of 72 and 77 in Valhalla.
Woods concluded his opening round with a bogey-bogey finish, while he hit two triple-bogeys in the first four holes of his second round - doing so multiple times in a single round at a major for the first time.
The 48-year-old, who finished seven over par and 19 strokes behind halfway leader Xander Schauffele, was making his first appearance on the PGA Tour since last month's Masters, and knows he needs to improve ahead of the US Open at Pinehurst in four weeks' time.
When asked about his next steps, the 15-time major champion responded: "Just keep fighting. Keep the pedal on, keep fighting, keep grinding, keep working hard at posting the best score that I can possibly post. That's all I can do.
"I got off to a bad start [in the second round] and the rough grabbed me at [the second hole]. I compounded the problem there at [the fourth].
"[I] just kept making mistakes and things you can't do, not just in tournaments but in majors especially. I hung around for most of the day, but unfortunately, the damage was done early.
"I need to play more. Unfortunately, I just haven't played a whole lot of tournaments. Hopefully, everything will somehow come together in my practice sessions at home and be ready for Pinehurst."
PGA Championship: Scheffler left 'shocked and shaking' after arrest
Scottie Scheffler was left "shocked and shaking" after his arrest in Kentucky, though the world number one delivered a superb second round at the PGA Championship.
Scheffler was arrested ahead of play starting at Valhalla Golf Club on Friday.
According to reports from ESPN, Scheffler faces charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.
The start of Friday's second round in Kentucky was delayed due to a traffic incident outside the course, with it subsequently confirmed that one person had died in the incident, which did not involve Scheffler.
Speaking to reporters after his second round, Scheffler said: "My main focus after getting arrested was wondering if I could be able to come back out here and play, and fortunately I was able to do that," he said.
"I was never angry, just in shock and I was shaking the whole time. It was definitely a new feeling for me.
"The officer that took me to the jail was very kind. He was great. We had a nice chat in the car, that kind of helped calm me down.
"It was a chaotic situation and a big misunderstanding," he said. "It’ll get resolved fairly quickly I think. I was driving in this morning, trying to get to my warm-up time and I don’t really have an understanding what transpired.
"I did numerous apologies but it was dark, it was raining and they had just had an accident. I didn’t know what had happened at the time but my heart goes out to the family.
"At no point did I try to name-drop myself to defuse the situation. I just tried to remain as calm as possible and just follow instructions."
Scheffler posted a five-under-par 66, moving to nine under for the tournament, and closing within three strokes of leader Xander Schauffele.
Having carded a historic 62 on Thursday, Schauffele could only manage a 68 in his second round, allowing his rivals to close the gap.
Collin Morikawa, who followed up his first-round 66 with an excellent 65, is one stroke back on 11 under. Sahith Theegala is third, on 10 under.
Scheffler is then part of a group that also includes Bryson DeChambeau, Thomas Detry and Mark Hubbard.
Reigning champion Brooks Koepka is two back from Scheffler on seven under.
Rory McIlroy, however, endured a disappointing second round, with the Northern Irishman carding 71 to slide seven shots off the lead.
Tiger Woods, meanwhile, missed the cut after a dismal round of 77.
World number one Scheffler arrested ahead of second round at PGA Championship
World number one Scottie Scheffler was arrested ahead of the second round at the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.
According to reports from ESPN, Scheffler faces charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.
The start of Friday's second round in Kentucky was delayed due to a traffic incident outside the course.
Louisville Metro Police Department said a bus had struck and killed a pedestrian in the incident, which Scheffler was reportedly attempting to navigate to enter the course.
Pre-tournament favourite Scheffler carded a four-under-par 67 in the first round on Thursday, putting him five strokes behind early pacesetter Xander Schauffele.
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