Danny's Diary

I can't complain too much about my first tournament of the season - a fourth place finish in the Johannesburg Open which moved me up to 118th in the World rankings.

To be honest it was a lot better than I was expecting because with all the bad weather in England I hadn't been able to get out on the course. You are bound to be rusty in the opening competition of the year but before I started my first round I felt like every part of my game needed oiling.

However, I carded a 65 which gave me confidence for the rest of the week. I drove the ball nicely and although my irons and pitches into the green weren't great, I holed out and can take a great deal of satisfaction from finishing so well. I was fourth in the same tournament last year so it is a course which has been good to me

It was also good experience to play in the leading group on Saturday, which I'd never done before on the Tour, but I admit I was nervous. I could feel my hands shaking because it is a very different proposition to going out in the usual three-balls on the first two days and although I took a while to calm down I handled it okay.

I was playing with the South African Charl Schwartzel, who won for the second week running, and it was interesting to see how he coped with the pressure. He's a really nice bloke and was calmness itself. He didn't do anything spectacular- just hit the ball beautifully and made his putts. Golf can be quite simple sometimes.

Charl is on a real high at the moment but he cannot win every week and if I get my various little problems sorted out maybe I can get my first victory on the Tour.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist and never completely happy with my game so you will probably find during my weekly updates that I will always be grumbling about something. If everything was spot on I would have won last week so there is work to be done going into the next three events in the Middle East which will feature higher quality fields making them all the tougher.

My realistic goal this season is to get into the World's top 50, which opens so many doors for us players, and I believe I can do it.

I've learned a lot from last year which was my first playing full-time on the Tour. It took a lot out of me because I played so many tournaments trying to get into the Dubai World Championships which is the season's finale. I was so shattered by the time I got to it, I didn't do myself justice and my head was all over the place.

It did me good to have a break over Christmas and I feel refreshed for this season. I will plan my schedule better this year and know when it's time to take a week off.

Of course the Ryder Cup will be held at Celtic Manor in October and watching Darren Clarke return to form with a second place in Jo'burg you could see he still has the desire to get into the team.

As we all know an in-form Darren will be a real asset against the Americans and a lot of the seasoned pros seem to find an extra gear in Ryder Cup year.

My caddie Malcolm Mason used to be on Sam Torrance's bag and he reckons Sam hardly ever won when it wasn't a Ryder Cup year. But when it was he became a real pot-hunter.

I would need a quite spectacular season to make the Ryder Cup but you can always dream can't you?

For more info on Danny please visit www.dannywillett.co.uk