Danny Willett's astonishing Masters triumph cost Alex Ferguson £8,000 (US$11,386), but the legendary former Manchester United manager was still happy to congratulate the shock champion.
Danny Willett of England, the 2016 Masters champion, poses with his
green jacket at his rented house in Augusta, Georgia, USA. (AFP/Andrew
Redington)
LONDON: Danny Willett's astonishing Masters triumph cost
Alex Ferguson £8,000 (US$11,386), but the legendary former Manchester
United manager was still happy to congratulate the shock champion.
Ferguson, who jetted out to Augusta to watch all four days
of the tournament, had backed Jordan Spieth to win and appeared on
course to cash in as the American established a comfortable lead in the
final round on Sunday.
But defending champion Spieth collapsed over the last holes, with a
disastrous 12th proving especially costly as the unheralded Willett
charged up the leaderboard to become the first Englishman to win the
Masters for 20 years.
Ferguson's light-hearted frustration at missing out on a
pay-day was revealed when television cameras captured his meeting with
Willett during the 28-year-old's post-victory celebrations.
Ironically, Willett is a fan of Manchester United's arch
rivals Liverpool, but Ferguson put that, and his lost winnings, to one
side as he congratulated the first Briton since Nick Faldo to don the
famous green jacket given to the Masters champion.
"I had £8,000 on Spieth!" Ferguson told Willett, prompting the new world number nine to laugh and say "oh, sorry".
Ferguson was quick to show he was only teasing. "I'm so
delighted. I'm so delighted honestly. Happy to throw it away," he said
to Willett. "You need to know where to put your money!," Willett said
with a smile.
Ferguson, a big golf enthusiast who gave a pep talk to the
European Ryder Cup team at Gleneagles in 2014, relished the chance to
witness Willett's victory in person.
SPECIAL MOMENTS
"If you can experience something like that in a golf
situation, the Ryder Cup or tonight, they are special moments, you can't
beat that," he said.
"I'm very fortunate in my life to be able to retire and go
and see that. If I had been manager of Man United, I wouldn't have been
here. Simply because my job was more important. But I'm privileged,
having retired and done this today, it's fantastic."
Willett was due to fly back to England on Monday for more
celebrations with his family, including his brother Peter who became a
Twitter sensation for his excitable tweets as his sibling closed in on
his fairytale success.
"We were having a quiet drink, seeing him move up the
scoreboard, seeing him getting better and better - it was really
enjoyable," Peter Willett told the BBC.
"I started sending out a few tweets just to see what kind of
reaction I got because that's the kind of guy I am. Then Spieth did
what he did on the 12th and it just went insane."
Ranked outside the top 100 as recently as November 2014,
Willett isn't used to the spotlight and said he was looking forward to
some peace and quiet with wife Nicole and their newly-born son Zac once
the champagne corks finally stop popping.
"We had the usual Masters celebrations up at the club house
with the Augusta members and I had a good few friends back at the house
and we continued having a good time right up until the early hours," he
told ITV.
"It's still not sunken in about what we've achieved and what
it means. I'm looking forward to being at home with my family and
letting it sink in properly with close family. We're on a flight later
on today, as early as we could get out with all the commotion.
"I'm looking forward to getting home and locking the door
and throwing the key away for a week and turning my phone off and
enjoying spending time with Nic and Zac."
- AFP/de
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