Danny Willett: I want to go to Rome and help the European Ryder Cup team

Former DP World Tour Championship winner Danny Willett is targeting a return to the European Ryder Cup team in Rome next year as he looks to erase the memories of his “Sh*!” debut at Hazeltine in 2016.

The Englishman’s first Ryder Cup began with a controversy started by his brother, who referred to American fans as “cretins” and “fat, stupid, greedy and classless”. Heckling from the crowd immediately followed as well as Willett ending the 0 and 3 as the European team lost the biennial contest for the first time since 2008.

“Sh*!” Willett said when asked about his maiden Ryder Cup outing back in 2016.

“I can only be honest,” he said moments later. “Sorry, would you like me to elaborate? It was really sh*!”

The 2016 Dubai Desert Classic would miss the next two Ryder Cups after failing to qualify for the team or justify a Captain’s Pick.Fast forward to today and Willett arrives at this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in good form after a runner-up finish in the PGA Tour’s season-opening Fortinet Championship. Although he made a three-putt to miss out on both the win and a play-off, Willett still made a good start in the Ryder Cup Qualification Process for the 2023 edition at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club.

After recent wins on Tour for fellow Team Europe hopefuls Robert MacIntyre and Guido Migliozzi, in Italy and France respectively, Willett is excited by the potential in the European ranks.

“You see the guys coming through, obviously Bobby Mac has been playing well for the last couple years now,” he said. “Guido’s good. You’ve got the Højgaard twins.

“You have a lot of good players that are coming through, and you just hope that they can continue to do that all the way through. Hopefully they can get some good guidance. I know Thomas Bjørn speaks to the twins a lot and tries to help them along the way.

“Obviously I want to go back there to Rome and help the team, and this is obviously another big week in that journey.”

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