Sheffield Golfer Wins Masters at Augusta
Sheffield golfer Danny Willett's triumphed at the Masters in Augusta. It was last won by an English player in 1996.
Sheffield golfer Danny Willett has become the first English player to win the Masters at Augusta for two decades.
It's the first major title of the 28-year-old's career and comes days after he became a dad for the first time.
Danny's described winning the tournament as "awesome".
The Englishman clinched victory after the defending champion, American Jordan Spieth, suffered a collapse in the final round.
His family have spoken of their pride at the win, with one of Willett's brothers even becoming a bit of a star in his own right for a quirky Twitter commentary of the game into the small hours.
The golfer's parents, the Reverend Stephen and Elisabet Willett, said they had watched their son's meteoric'' rise in recent years open-mouthed.
The retired vicar confessed to having kept his son off school in his younger days after late sessions on the course.
Mrs Willett joked that her husband used to write the most appalling'' excuses for keeping him off school.
She said:
He used to say Danny wasn't in school yesterday but he's here today, and that used to be it for years and years. But the PE department, the better he got the more they supported him so the school in the end was fantastic.''
The new champion left school at 16.
He quit a local college course after a month before attending Jacksonville State University in Alabama for two years.
Rebecca Willett, Danny's sister-in-law, called it fate'' that the baby had arrived early, adding: *It's all been crazy and we're all so proud of him.''*
Willett's brother Matthew, a firefighter who used to caddy for the new Masters champion, said his brother's career had started out of the sporty family's sibling rivalry.
He said:
We used to go down to the pitch and putt and he seemed to be the one that took to it best. Well, obviously!''
The golfer's father added:
The last few years have been meteoric. We've sat here with our mouths open. He's in a different world at the moment. He's living the dream.''
Willett is the first European since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999 to don the Green Jacket - the winner's prize - at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.
The last UK winner of the first major of the season was Nick Faldo in 1996.