RBC Notebook: Willett begins life as a past Masters champion in RBC debut

Danny Willett’s one-year reign as Masters champion ended Sunday when he placed the green jacket on Sergio Garcia, and he was happy to do it. “There’s nobody around golf that’s going to begrudge him for finally knocking off his major,” said Willett, who was Garcia’s Ryder Cup teammate last year.

Willett, 29, now begins life as a past Masters champion rather than the current Masters champion. “I guess the weight is off in terms of you’re not defending, but you still put pressure on yourself I guess because you know you can play well and know what you can do,” Willett said.

The 29-year-old Englishman has been a member of the European Tour since 2009 and has five wins on that circuit.

Willett is splitting time this year between the European and PGA tours, and was advised to add the RBC Heritage to his schedule.

“It’s a place I’ve always wanted to come and play and it kind of fit in really well with playing Augusta and driving straight from there,” said Willett, whose first view of the course came in Wednesday’s pro-am. “We talked to the stats guys, and we tried to get a schedule this year around theoretically what suits me, and this place came up pretty good. It’s kind of a bit of what we’ve seen on television, what the stats guys said and then theoretically what should suit the game.”

Willett shot an even-par 71 Thursday and is tied for 72nd. He turned at 1 over with a bogey on the front nine, got to 1 under with birdies on holes 13 and 17 but fell back to even with a bogey on 18.

Willett has had a rough year, with the exception of a tie for fifth in the Maybank Championship in Malaysia. He has yet to finish inside the top 35 in four events in North America.

Other than majors and World Golf Championship events, he added the Honda Classic the week before a WGC event and the Heritage following the Masters. He plans to play in The Players Championship, and again return to the U.S. for the FeEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis and U.S. Open in consecutive weeks.

“This year was always going to be a busy one at the start of it,” Willett said, “and we’ll try to get back and give us some time to practice and get the game back in shape.”

Storm-induced changes

Harbour Town Golf Links looks a little different this year to the discerning eye, courtesy of Hurricane Matthew.

The course lost nearly 300 trees when the storm roared through Hilton Head in early October, and damage included wooden docks from the nearby marina washed onto the 18th fairway through Calibogue Sound.

Though the course reopened in November, areas of Sea Pines Resort, which includes Harbour Town and two other courses, are still removing debris from the storm.

Resort officials say 22 trees have been replaced, usually with smaller versions. They include six oak trees, six pines, one magnolia and a number of palm trees.

“I can't say it looks more open in spots, I’d say it looks less tight,” two-time Heritage winner Jim Furyk said.

Some holes have been impacted. Among trees that have been lost or damaged are a tree that affected drives to the right of both the par-4 10th and 16th holes, a tree on the right side of the par-4 11th hole and branches hanging over the left side of the 17th tee box.

“There are a couple of holes that feel a little less claustrophobic,” Luke Donald said, “but it doesn't really play too differently. The character of the golf course is the same. In fact some of the trees missing have really helped with the growth. I've never seen the course in as good of shape.”

A tree that protected the left side of the green on the par-5 15th hole has been partially damaged. “I think you're going to see a couple more guys going for the [15th] green this year, trying to give themselves some chances,” defending champion Branden Grace said.

Loving the competition

Davis Love III celebrated his 53rd birthday Thursday by shooting a 1-over 73 that included a closing birdie on the 18th hole.

The Heritage is Love’s second PGA Tour event since returning to action from a broken collarbone suffered in a snowboarding mishap in early January. Love tied for 61st two weeks ago in the Shell Houston Open.

“I'm just getting back into the swing of things. I'm rusty, and I'm turning 53, so those two don't go so well together,” Love said.

Love, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in March, won as recently on the PGA Tour as the Wyndham Championship late in the 2015 season.

Thus far this season, he played in two events in November and played in Houston, and he has yet to play on the Champions Tour this year. He withdrew from two of his three starts last year following The Players Championship in mid-May and had hip surgery last July to fix a torn left hip labrum.

“I've got to get some experience, I think,” said Love, who captained the U.S. Ryder Cup Team to victory in September. “Really since last June I’ve been hurt. … I haven't played much. I'm starting to feel like I haven't played in a year almost. So I'm excited to get back. I was playing great at this time last year. I was hitting the ball really, really well. And so hopefully I can get back to doing that now that I'm healthy.”

Harbour Town would be a good place to start. Love is playing in his 29th Heritage and has won the tournament five times, most recently in 2003.

“I'm just looking to be patient and capture some of those good feelings from around here, good memories,” Love said.

This story was originally published April 13, 2017 at 7:39 PM with the headline "RBC Notebook: Willett begins life as a past Masters champion in RBC debut."