Photo by Harry Trump
By Christopher Powers
Three years ago this week, Danny Willett’s brother, Pete “P.J.” Willett gained quite a bit of notoriety for having too much faith in his brother and the European Ryder Cup team. His inflammatory remarks about American crowds further fueled the fire at Hazeltine, and the U.S. team would later make P.J. eat his words, dominating the Euros for a 17-11 victory. Danny posted an 0-3 record in the loss.
On Sunday, it was P.J.’s lack of faith in his brother that caught the attention of many who follow him on Twitter. With Danny tied for the lead with Jon Rahm after three rounds of the BMW PGA Championship, you’d think P.J. would tweet words of encouragement, and maybe even make the trip to Surrey to see if his little bro could capture his seventh European Tour title. Yeah, not exactly:
Decided to forgo the nightmare of organising a last minute trip to Wentworth with three under 7s because I was convinced Rahm would ruin the party… I still think it was the right decision.
— P J Willett (@P_J_Willett) September 22, 2019
At the time this was tweeted, Danny and Rahm were still in the midst of a final-round battle, but as they came down the stretch Danny remained steady while Rahm gave chase. His aggressiveness led to two back nine bogeys, which proved to be too much to overcome. Danny birdied the final two holes to win by three strokes, giving him his first worldwide victory since the 2018 DP World Tour Championship. P.J. tweeted through it as best as he could:
Best bogey I’ve ever seen
— P J Willett (@P_J_Willett) September 22, 2019
Danny has an outside chance of winning this
— P J Willett (@P_J_Willett) September 22, 2019
I should’ve taken the kids to Wentworth
— P J Willett (@P_J_Willett) September 22, 2019
Just lay up
— P J Willett (@P_J_Willett) September 22, 2019
And that is why I’m not an elite level athlete
— P J Willett (@P_J_Willett) September 22, 2019
I reckon he’s got this
— P J Willett (@P_J_Willett) September 22, 2019
Funny stuff, as always, from P.J. He may have not had much faith in Danny on Sunday, but at least he was glued to the TV for every shot to see his brother prove him wrong. Isn’t that what sibling love is all about?