The Open 2018: Danny Willett hasn't just returned from a dark place, he's returned from the 'pitch black'

Willett has come back from the brink and he isn't afraid to talk about it

As the clock ticked to 7am at The Open, what little breeze there was on the first tee dropped and Luke List sent off the final tee shot of the third grouping to take to the Carnoustie Links. Then came the chuntering.

Danny Willett walked briskly alongside his caddy as he babbled in high-speed Yorkshire, the accent as instantly recognisable as the player himself is becoming.

The 2016 Masters champion has endured a nightmare couple of years since that Augusta triumph, discovering the hard way that his body simply couldn’t cope with the PGA Tour’s punishing schedule as bad habits in his swing caused nagging injury problems that simply wouldn’t go away.

From a top-10 player in the world to being ranked in the 400s, even a more pain-free year this season has seen Willett miss the cut in 10 of 12 events.

Having torn his shoulder, Willett’s life was reduced to “chomping painkillers” to stave off the agony while a knee issue only exacerbated the 30-year-old’s problems. He couldn’t pick up his children let alone swing a golf club and he admits he was in a “dark place” - but how dark?

“Pitch black,” he said, fresh from carding a first-round 69 that might just have the Yorkshireman in contention for a second career major - a turnaround that would have seemed utterly improbable during his worst injury struggles.

“No, it wasn't good for a while, but that's kind of the situation we were in, and we were fighting, swinging it a little bit on and off, and the body was just being really uncooperative,” he said.

“Unfortunately in this game, trying to travel and play 26 weeks around the world, traveling countless amount of air miles isn't good for the body I don't think for anybody.

“It wasn't fun getting on the plane and wondering if you were actually going to be able to play the event on Thursday. So it wasn’t a nice place to be.

Luke List played with Willett, carding a 70 (Getty Images)

“I’m pretty hopeful we'll never be in as dark as play as we were. But by the same token, this is a strange odd game.

“You get ebbs and flows and hit a low point, but I've really enjoyed golf the last six, seven weeks.

“Even getting the clubs out and going to play at home without having to do two hours of warm-up then go see the physio. Just to be able to hit it around the golf course for nine holes and hit it pretty good and feel pretty good.

“That kind of just leads you to work a little bit harder, even if it's just an extra half an hour putting and an extra half an hour hitting balls, whatever it may be.

“And the little sessions you're able to do for a bit longer because your body is better and just enables you to gain a little more than you ordinarily would have. And then to be able to go home and obviously not have to go through treatment and stuff and do everything. Yeah, it's nice.

“Regardless of what the golf is and how the golf is, it's a lot better place to be.”

It’s an almost unrecognisable place for Willett, who speaks like someone so drowned in miserable form that this round appears to have come as quite the shock. Compare it to last year’s nadir, where he withdrew from the US Open and Players Championship before missing the cut in the USPGA, and the turnaround is huge.

Danny Willett receives his green jacket after winning the 2016 Masters (Getty)

And while Willett knows he should be thankful for small mercies given the hell he has come back from, the Yorkshireman in him doesn’t allow such a philosophical outlook.

“You should remember the times that were terrible and go, well, that's not too bad. Unfortunately, we're not like that!

“We just keep trying to move forward and keep trying to strive for better things.