Masters champion reveals 'sacred spot' at Augusta after secret wee helped secure win

Danny Willett became just the second Englishman to claim when he won in 2016. The man from Sheffield was rewarded with the Green Jacket and, in part, owes his victory to a moment of solitary in a toilet which allowed him to gather his thoughts.

The 37-year-old had never won a major prior to his success at Augusta, his best effort was tied sixth at the Open the previous year. Going into the final round plenty saw it as the procession with the American seemingly cruising towards a second Masters and a third major.

He led by one shot, but had pedigree, experience and quickly opened up a commanding lead. As a result Willett went out more in hope than expectation, but a horror effort on the 12th hole from the man from Texas changed all that.

Willett was a few holes ahead when he heard the crowd, who were reacting to Spieth after he fired his approach shot into the water, not once, but twice to end up with a quadruple-bogey that would change the landscape of the scoreboard.

The Englishman had just made par and, as his new reality sunk in, he took a moment away from the Masters madness. And he had to head to the bathroom to find that peace as he emptied his bladder before a look in the mirror and a few words of wisdom from himself to himself.

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He told the How Leaders Lead podcast: "On 15 I tapped in for par and at the time I think I was still two behind. There was a massive oo and I looked at the massive leaderboard and obviously Jordan has messed about on 12. They changed his score from seven to three, at the time I was four. So we've gone from chasing, chasing, chasing to leading.

"If anyone's been fortunate enough to go my sacred place at Augusta is a bathroom off the back of the 16th tee, set back in the woods. and I needed a pee. I've gone into this bathroom and its so surreal and quiet, its so busy around that 16th green.

"I had a little 20 or 30 seconds of peace, had a pee, washed my hands, looked in the mirror and said 'this is what you practice for'. You've got ot make five ,ore good swings, try hold a couple of putts and in 45 minutes time we'll see where we're at. It's almost lieke someone, at the time you needed a getaway box, someone had dropped a toilet just where I needed it at the right time ot have a minute on my own.

"I got my thoughts, gathered myself and was like I was like you're playing really well but let's keep pressing, put the foot down and 45 minutes later, we'd done a pretty cool thing."

After his par Willett pressed home his advantage with a birdie at 16 before two more pars saw him enter the Clubhouse with the lead at five under, but a chasing Spieth was attempting to atone for his monumental error.

The American would make bogey on the 17th and that made it mathematically impossible for him to catch Willett, with the cameras catching the moment he was jumped on by his caddie as they celebrated the most unlikeliest of victories.

Since that career-defining round Willett has struggled to contend at the Masters, failing to make the cut in five of his eight visits since being presented with the Green Jacket. He arrives at Augusta ranked outside the world's top 300, but as a former champion he will get invited back for life, as per the tournament's rules.

The Yorkshireman has confessed that the attention that came his way after his Masters victory was something he wasn't prepared for and wasn't always easy to adapt to.

He said: "It does get intrusive. I wasn’t fully prepared for the media attention. I’m a lad from Sheffield and I’m pretty good at but no one could ever fully expose me to what the public attention is going to be like and how intrusive it’s going to be. I struggled with that at times."