• Resurgent Willett beats Jon Rahm by three shots• Yorkshireman was 462 in the world 16 months agoIt felt appropriate for Danny Willett’s latest leap away from the doldrums to take place as the qualifying process started for Europe’s Ryder Cup team. It was in that very environment, three years ago, that things started to go so badly wrong for the Yorkshireman.
Willett, England’s latest winner of the BMW PGA Championship, arrived at Hazeltine in 2016 inside the world’s top 10 having won the Masters five months earlier. Unwanted attentions provided by a vitriolic blog – penned by Willett’s brother – ruined his Ryder Cup debut; whether linked or not, he subsequently suffered a catastrophic loss of form. When heading to Wentworth for this tournament last year, he was ranked 462nd in the world.