Danny's Diary

I really feel like I’m knocking on the door of my first win after another good week.

On Sunday I finished seventh at the Trophy Hassan II in Morocco to follow up on a sixth place in the previous event in Malaysia and if a few more putts would drop I might get my hands on a trophy.

I’m in a positive frame of mind and refused to get downhearted - as I might have done in the past - after a level par opening round which probably left me too much to do in the tournament. The good thing is I’m showing I can battle back into contention at the weekend, but I need to be more in touch with the leaders when it comes to the last two rounds.

On Saturday I produced my best ever under par score on the European tour when I got round in a nine under 64 which could have been better because I left a couple out there. Twice I was green high at par fives and failed to get up and down.

While that score propelled me up the leaderboard it wasn’t enough to give me a realistic chance of winning because I was still six behind when I teed off for my final 18. And I dropped a couple of shots on the final three holes as I tried to muscle in on a share of third place.

That probably cost me about 25,000 euros but I’m not worried about the money, I’m earning well enough and it’s winning that interests me. Me and my coach Graham have been working hard and it’s all looking good. I’m hitting the ball where it’s supposed to go and have a lot of confidence about my game.

I don’t think there’s much between how I’m playing and finding the winning formula. As I say you need a few putts to drop and I think the winner Rhys Davies had something like 95 putts in his four rounds. If you are averaging 24 putts a round you are always going to be in contention.

While we were in Morocco, Tony Jacklin and Jack Nicklaus turned up to hit a few balls for the spectators and I took the chance to watch too. Nicklaus is still considered the greatest by many and it was a treat to see him. He hardly plays these days but he took the driver out of the bag and after three or four goes he was striking it beautifully. He’s 70 now but still looks capable of getting it round and I reckon he could beat his age which is the mark of the golden-oldie golfer.

This week we are in Spain for the Andalucia Open so let’s hope I can keep up the good form.

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