ENGLAND'S Danny Willett set his sights on a place in the Olympics and Ryder Cup after holding his nerve to win the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and take a massive step towards a place in the world’s top 10.
Willett holed from 15-feet for a birdie on the 18th to card a closing 69 and finish 19-under par, one shot ahead of compatriot Andy Sullivan and playing partner Rafael Cabrera-Bello.
Sullivan had also birdied the last in the group ahead to temporarily join Willett at the top of the leaderboard, before Cabrera-Bello narrowly missed a long eagle attempt on 18 and tapped in for birdie to also finish 18-under.
Spain’s Alvaro Quiros and Korea’s Byeong Hun An shared fourth place on 16-under after matching rounds of 65, with defending champion Rory McIlroy another shot back alongside Henrik Stenson after also closing with a 65.
“I’m just ecstatic,” said Willett, who revealed his celebrations would be somewhat curtailed by a 3am flight home to be with his pregnant wife Nicole.
“You can’t buy that feeling, coming down the back nine, the last three holes, in contention in a golf tournament. You can’t pay for that experience.
“With all the permutations that were going on as we were coming down the last, with Sully making birdie ahead of us and then Rafa on the green in two, it’s very nice to know that I can dig deep and produce what I can when it is needed the most.
“You’d love to win by five or six every time, but when you win in that fashion it does feel that little bit extra special. It means when the pressure is on I can produce the goods.”
Willett’s fourth European Tour title moves him from 20th in the world rankings to a provisional career-high of 12th, as well as elevating the 28-year-old to third in the Ryder Cup standings and cementing his place alongside Justin Rose in qualifying for the British Olympic team.
“You try not to think about it when you’re on the golf course but they are two massive goals of mine,” Willett added.
“I’ll do the same thing I’ve been doing the last couple of years, it’s just day by day, week by week, and hopefully come August we’ll be in Rio and come September we’ll be in Hazeltine.”
