Danny Willett receives the Green Jacket from Jordan Spieth with Augusta National Golf Club chairman Billy Payne (right) after the Yorkshireman won th 2016 Masters.

DANNY Willett’s Green Jacket will always take pride of place in his locker, but an England team blazer remains dear to his heart.

In fact, the 2016 Masters champion rates playing as an amateur in the Home Internationals for England as his favourite team golf experience.

But given his experiences as a member of Darren Clarke’s team at the 2016 Ryder Cup, when he was at the centre of a media storm created by a magazine interview given by his brother, that might not be such a surprise.

But there were several more surprises in a wide-ranging, open and honest online Q&A session, which Willett conducted with England Golf coaches and players.

Willett was the toast of world golf four years ago when he came from three shots back.

He carded a brilliant final round 67 to win the Masters by three shots from defending champion Jordan Spieth and Lee Westwood.

To date, it remains the greatest achievement of the Yorkshireman’s career although his first victory on home soil – in last year’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth – was another major milestone.

And it was a hot topic for discussion during another lively webchat hosted by England performance director Nigel Edwards.

Willett, Lowry, McIlroy, Wood and Edwards featured in elite contests

BOTH Willett and Edwards share more than an England Golf connection.

In 2007, they were part of the GB&I Walker Cup squad – also featuring Rory McIlroy – which narrowly lost out to a star-studded American side including Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Webb Simpson, at Royal County Down.

The pair were also in the same European team that won the Michael Bonnallack Trophy in 2008, beating Asia- Pacific at Valderrama, alongside Gloucestershire’s future Ryder Cup player Chris Wood, and last year’s Open Champion Shane Lowry.

Willett – currently based in Florida’s Isleworth, as he waits for the tours to start on both sides of the pond – talked through his amazing work ethic, his attention to detail and the processes he has followed all his career.

And he recalled with fondness an amateur career during which he won the Australian Strokeplay, the Spanish Amateur and English Amateur en route to becoming No. 1 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Willett said: “I loved everything about team golf with England when you had a group of guys taking on Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

“You maybe had 40-50 of the best players from the UK there and you were trying to impress for Walker Cup places and Jacques Leglise teams.

“You wanted to beat everyone, you certainly didn’t want to lose to a rival country. But there was still a great camaraderie.

“Yorkshire normally had quite a good bunch and we were well represented.

“But you caught up with people you hadn’t seen since the last event and I was good pals with Oliver Fisher and Tom Sherrard among others and it was great to get everyone together.”

Danny Willett (back row right) in the European team that won the 2008 Michael Bonallack Trophy, playing alongside Shane Lowry, Nigel Edwards and Chris Wood.

Danny has not been back to Royal St George since English Amateur victory in 2007

WILLETT, who was a junior at Rotherham GC, has won seven times on Tour and, at 32 years of age, has arguably yet to reach his prime.

As a youth, Willett was always earmarked for a great career – and his English Amateur win at Royal St George’s in 2007 remains a landmark moment.

“It was a great week,” recalled Willett who beat Matt Cryer 3&2 to lift the silverware.

“I played a lot of good players that week and then beat Matt in the final.

“It was the end of a pretty exceptional summer and the culmination of lot of good golf that I played at that time.

“To win any event is brilliant – to win on home soil in front of England officials and organisers it was a really special one to get it under your belt.

“It was a great golf course to win on too – and I’ll now need to wait until next year to go back with this year’s Open postponed.

“Oddly enough I haven’t played there since I won the English Amateur.

“I was looking forward to going back – but it’s more just looking forward to The Open as an event.

“For an Englishman, The Open in England is truly special just as it is for a Scotsman in Scotland or the Irish boys last year at Portrush.

“You take Opens wherever they are – they are always phenomenal, but it’s great to get a home crowd.

“I have fond memories of that place and it’s been a helluva long time since I played it. To go back as professional with a different golf game would have been a lot of fun.”

Willett has seven victories on the European Tour to his name – he also claimed the biggest cash prize in 2018 by winning the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Danny Willett during the Q&A session with England’s national squads

Rotherham still producing top teenage talents

AS a Yorkshireman, Willett remain fiercely proud of his home county and still keeps one eye on the amateur game.

The rise of Rotherham’s Ben Schmidt in the last year has caught his attention.

Willett added:”I still chat to Graham Walker about the lads coming up through Yorkshire and different bits and bobs.

“There are a couple of players in Yorkshire – Ben being one – and I keep track even though life is busy.

“I’ve tried to help him out for a few things here and there. He’s young, but he has to keep working hard and see where he gets.

“It’s good and well winning, but the scores he was posting were the thing to look out for. That’s the impressive part.

“He’s also won in Australia and if you have a game that travels, then that’s a good thing.”

Fellow Rotherham GC member Ben Schmidt, the youngest-ever winner of the Brabazon Trophy, has been given advice by Danny Willet. Picture by LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY

•Next in line for the England squads is a Q&A with Ryder Cup player and European Tour winner Chris Wood.

Matt Wallace, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Meghan MacLaren and Bronte Law have all hosted similar sessions.

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Left to right: Ryder Cup captains Steve Stricker (USA) and Padraig Harrington (Europe) who issued a letter calling on golfers all over the world to unite to beat the coronavirus pandemic. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

A MESSAGE TO EVERYONE FROM USA AND EUROPE’S RYDER CUP CAPTAINS

EVERY two years Europe and the United States of America come together.

We are united by the shared values of sportsmanship and our desire to defeat a formidable opponent.

In doing so, we witness some incredible displays of determination, passion and spirit.

When Europe takes on the United States in the Ryder Cup it is always fiercely contested – but it is just golf.

It is not a matter of life and death – fighting coronavirus is.

Today, Europe and the United States are united like never before.

We have a formidable opponent, but it is not each other. It is like nothing we have ever faced before.

Defeating coronavirus won’t happen in three days. It won’t happen because of the efforts of only 12 men.

It needs all of us to play our part. So while Europe and the America once again come together, we also stand as one with all of our friends around the world during this unprecedented global crisis.

As Ryder Cup Captains, we proudly represent all the players, caddies, staff and partners of the European Tour and PGA of America.

And we speak on behalf of every single one of them when we say that our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has been affected.

We also speak for them when we say that we are all moved by the incredible determination, passion and spirit we are witnessing from our health professionals, key workers and everyone else on the front line in this battle.

We are all indebted to the incredible work they are all doing.

Last week, some of the world’s leading golfers featured in a social media video thanking our heroes. We want to take this opportunity to reiterate our sincere gratitude to all of you once more.

Today is World Health Day. It should also be a day when we are all at Augusta National for the first Major of the 2020 season, but golf is insignificant right now.

Instead of celebrating someone in a Green Jacket, this week we rightly celebrate those selfless people around the world wearing scrubs, wearing white coats, wearing supermarket uniforms – together with everyone else working round the clock to protect us and keep the world functioning.

You are our true heroes. For them, we urge everyone to please stay safe, stay healthy and stay home.

And stay united.

•Both the PGA of America and the European Tour committed to work towards playing the Ryder Cup as scheduled at Wisconsin’s Whistling Straits Golf Club, from September 25-27, when a revised schedule for the 2020 Majors was issued by all the main golf tours – and the R&A and USGA – earlier this week.

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Rory McIlroy is backing suggestions the 2020 Masters could move from April to October because of the coronavirus

WORLD No. 1 Rory McIlroy is one of the players who want the Masters to be played in October.

That could see the Augusta National Golf Club host the Masters for the first time in the autumn in its 87-year history.

And it could see the players head down Magnolia Lane after Europe try to win the Ryder Cup on US soil for only the third time in 20 years – the last was the Miracle of Medinah in 2012.

McIlroy, who needs a Green Jacket to complete a career Grand Slam in the Majors, said in an Instagram Q&A with Sky Sports Jamie Redknapp: “Augusta play their cards close to their chest.

“They don’t let much out of the bag. I hope they play it in October time which is the rumour. I think it would be great.

“‘Potentially you’re looking at four Majors and a Ryder Cup and the FedEx Cup in the space of 12 weeks.

“Say the Open gets postponed and moved back to September.

“You might have the PGA in August, then the FedEx Cup, then the Open Championship, then the Ryder Cup – and then the Masters.

“And if the US Open gets postponed maybe that gets pushed back to October or November.

“If we get back to playing by mid-summer it’s going to be a hectic 12 or 15 weeks.”

Rory McIlory is backing suggestions the Masters should move from April to October in 2020

Before the decision to postpone the Masters was made earlier this month, McIlroy had backed calls for the event to go ahead without the fans after he spoke to reporters after his first round at The Players Championship, which was called off later that night, just hours before Augusta National GC chairman Fred Riley made the call.

The 30-year-old, from Northern Ireland, who has four Major wins to his name – but the last of them came in 2014 – also called on the PGA Tour to test all players and caddies for COVID-19 before the PGA Tour decided later that week to shut down until May.

Rory told Redknapp he has been keeping fit in the gym and playing tennis at his Florida home during the PGA Tour’s shutdown.

“I need something to practice for,” said McIlroy. “I have no idea when we are going to play again and I’d rather build myself up to something.

“I know if I go out there and hit balls, I’m not doing it for any purpose.

“I love golf and it has given me a lot of really great things but I think I love the competition more. If there’s no competition, then there’s nothing to look forward to.

“Right now, I am just enjoying spending some time at home, getting after it in the gym, and spending time by the pool or playing tennis.

“I realise there are a lot of us who are very fortunate to have gyms in our house and all sorts of stuff so that we can keep busy.”

The 13th green at Augusta – the azaleas and rhododendrons will not be in bloom if the 2020 Masters is played in October instead of April because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Masters played outside April twice

THE first Masters was played at the course designed by Bobby Jones and Dr Alister MacKenzie in 1934 and for 81 of the 83 Masters that have been played were held in April.

The decision to put back the 2020 Masters meant the event might not be played for the first time since 1946 – the last of a three-year break during the Second World War.

But with a massive spike in hotel prices around Augusta, during the week of October 5-12, becoming evident online the smart money is on The Masters being held that week.

It is too hot in Georgia for the players to compete at Augusta – and the course is normally closed during the summer until September.

The greenkeepers would have a battle to present the immaculate Augusta fairways in the conditions found in April – and there will be no azaleas and rhododendrons to provide the spectacular colour.

But most TV fans, already craving a return to the sport after a month’s inactivity beause of the coronavirus pandemic, will probably put up with a different looking course as long as they get to see the Green Jacket presented after four days of sublime golf.

•The current PGA Tour schedule can be seen by clicking here.

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