The Englishman who won a Masters shares Fortinet lead

NAPA, Calif. — He won a Masters. His schoolteacher brother in England called American golf fans “baying imbeciles.” You remember Danny Willett. Or do you?

There he was Friday, sharing second place in the first Tour tournament of the season, trying to bring back the magic while perhaps bringing back a few memories.

Willett shot an 8-under-par 64 Friday at Silverado Country Club and was tied with defending champ Max Homa at 12-under-par 136 in the Fortinet Championship.

A surprise? Not compared to what happened in 2016 at Augusta. That’s when Jordan Spieth started knocking balls into Rae’s Creek and giving Willett, the Englishman, the Masters triumph.

Which gave those baying imbecile golf fans in the USA a chance to ask “Who?” almost as if to verify the supposedly tongue-in-cheek commentary by Peter Willett.

A writer with the opportunity to chide the opposition in the U.S.-Ryder Cup matches, Peter wasn’t concerned about what the golfers thought, probably, only about laughs, Yes, there were apologies.

Since then, the golfer, Danny, almost disappeared. His body was a mess. This hurt, that hurt. Splitting time between the PGA and European tours (now DT), he found trouble on both.

Then at the end of 2021, Willett had an appendectomy, at which time surgeons also fixed a hernia. The pain was gone. So far in two rounds of the Fortinet, over-par golf also is gone.

“Yeah, bogey free,” Willett said elatedly. ”Probably most impressive. We’ve hit it really good, and this place kind of jumps up. The rough is kind of hit and miss, and the greens being firm, to go bogey-free really is good.”

That’s an understatement, certainly. You stay away from bogies, you stay in contention.

Silverado, in the wine country about an hour north of San Francisco, isn’t the toughest test in golf — hey, 12-under atop the leader board is an indication — but there are dry creeks and trees.

“Ón 16 we probably got a little bit screwed there with the second shot,” Willett said of a par-five. “I was a little bit right of the target but hit the end tree branch and came 40 yards backwards, and I messed around a little bit and was able to pitch in to six feet straight down the hill and made a really good save for par — which then let me be able to finish birdie birdie and get myself in a really great position.”

His position in this Fortinet is as good as it can be. You wouldn’t have expected him to be in first, or at least have a part of it, but you wouldn’t have expected him to win a Masters either.