Danny Willett, the 2016 champion, has to be pretty thrilled with his 1-under start through six holes today, considering he wasn’t certain if he was going to play this first round.
Willett said he was still “touch and go” earlier this week, the result of shoulder surgery only seven months ago. Willett hasn’t played competitively since the procedure and said he could withdraw “unless I can do myself justice.”
Well, the 36-year-old was 2-under through three holes today and still in good shape. Since winning at Augusta eight years ago, Willett has missed five cuts, while finishing T25 in 2020 and T12 in 2022.
