So many times we hear that one of golf’s compelling attributes is that it mimics life. You’ll have ups and downs, joy and sorrow on the course just as we do in life. Many times all that will occur in a matter of minutes or moments.
There are plenty of times in life when just showing up and being in the right place at the right time was the simple formula for success. And sometimes fate steps in and takes over and we are mere bystanders to the events that effect us.
Fate or the Golf Gods or human biology may have all combined to get Danny Willett to The Masters this year. He wasn’t planning on making his second appearance at Augusta. His wife Nicole was due with their first child and he wasn’t about to miss being there for the birth. She was due on the same day as the final round so he was prepared to stay home this week.
But all the forces of the universe, whatever they may be, worked to have young Zachariah James make his appearance a little early and his dad was able to fly across the pond to tee it up.
Willett, the father probably didn’t need a plane to cross the Atlantic he was flying so high as he and young Zach and Nicole were now a very happy and growing family.
So he shows up to Augusta on Monday night as the last invitee to register ready to compete in the Masters with a smile that wouldn’t leave his face all week. He was on cloud nine and anything that happened was a nice bonus to the biggest week of his life.
Willett had played solid but not spectacular golf with rounds of 70-74-72 and started the final round three shots back of leader Jordan Spieth who had let the field back in with a poor finish on Saturday.
Willett had saved the best for last and with two birdies on the front was playing a tight round of golf and with no bogeys he was one of the few players that looked to have figured Augusta National out.
But Spieth had gotten hot and put four birdies together to get to seven under par. It looked like he had control of the tournament. And then fate stepped in.
Spieth collapsed with an improbable meltdown losing six shots to par over holes ten through twelve.
When Danny Willett left the fifteenth green at yesterday’s Masters he thought the Gods or the scoreboard workers were having a bit of fun.
“I heard the groaning or oohing or whatever the sound was,” Willett said. “I looked behind me and saw what had happened.” He smiled. “For a second I thought it was a joke and they were going to change it and put a 7 back up there.”
It was no joke. He was in the right place at the right time. He was leading the Masters.
To Willett’s credit he didn’t wilt under the major championship pressure. He stepped up and hit a gorgeous shot into sixteen and canned a birdie putt to stretch his lead. Two solid pars on seventeen and eighteen had him in the clubhouse as the leader. Spieth needed a miracle finish that never materialized.
The first thing Willett did as he waited for the field to finish was Facetime his wife Nicole. The two shared laughs and smiles in another special moment. Sunday was Nicole’s birthday. 
We all like to say that these major championship are “life changing” wins. And they are. Millions of dollars, years of exemptions into tours and majors and all the perks that go with being a Masters Champion certainly changes a players life.
Willett knew just how special his last days have been,”You can’t really describe the emotions you’re feeling…It was just a very surreal moment.”
“You talk about fate, you talking about everything else. It’s just been a crazy, crazy week.”
Was it luck? Was it fate? Were the Golf Gods smiling on the new father? Perhaps a bit of serendipity?
Whatever it was Willett had done his part to be there. He showed up at Augusta in a fog that surrounds those new fathers and left walking on a cloud.
It’s been a heck of a few weeks for Willett. He won’t need a plane to fly back home.
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