AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The ripples in Rae's Creek had yet to dissipate, the loud moans telling the story. Something was amiss at Amen Corner, and Danny Willett was about to find out he was the beneficiary.
When Jordan Spieth knocked not only his tee shot but his approach from a drop area into the water that fronts the 12th green at Augusta National last year, the Masters changed dramatically. Suddenly, Willett, an afterthought as he played the back nine, was out in front.
He was walking off the 15th green, ruing a missed birdie opportunity, when it became official, Spieth's quadruple-bogey 7 having posted on the manual leaderboard. And in that moment, when Willett realized he was leading the Masters ... he headed for a portable restroom behind the 16th tee.
"It's pretty difficult to go in the trees at Augusta,'' Willett said. "You don't want to get into much trouble. It was the first bathroom we had seen in a while.
"In fairness, you look back at it, it was quite nice, had a couple of minutes of silence in the bathroom with no one there and I said to myself, 'Look, this is what you practice for. You've got to make five good swings and hole a couple of putts and see what happens. You're in this position and this is what you want to do.' And that's kind of how we approach it.''
At the par-3 16th, Willett knocked his approach close for a birdie to extend his lead, then made two pars coming in while Spieth could not catch up. It was a stunning turn of events for Willett, 29, who became just the second Englishman to claim the green jacket.
Much like the other English Masters winner, Nick Faldo, Willett's final-round 67 has been often overlooked.
Twenty years earlier, Faldo shot a bogey-free 67 on the closing 18 holes to make up a 6-shot deficit against Greg Norman, who imploded with a score of 78. Naturally, much of the focus was on Norman, who was all but ceded the title through 54 holes.
Willett trailed by only 3 strokes at the start of the final round, but Spieth had increased his lead to 5 shots at the turn. Who at that point didn't believe Spieth was on his way to a second straight green jacket? Willett was three holes ahead and not viewed as a threat. Even when Spieth bogeyed the 10th and 11th holes, he still had a 2-shot advantage after Willett's birdie at the 14th.
And in an instant, Willett went from two behind to two ahead.
"That specific moment will be kind of a defining memory for me because it was so odd to see Jordan Spieth go into the water twice and it was so odd to feel such elation at what must have been such an awful moment for somebody else,'' said Willett's brother, Pete, who was watching at home. "But I didn't care. It was up there with having kids -- so surreal. It's difficult to explain. It felt preordained. It was very odd.''
And when it was over, just like Faldo 20 years earlier, Willett had shot a 5-under-par 67 without a bogey to overtake the player everyone thought was going to win.
"Danny obviously put a clinical round together and got fortunate, too,'' fellow Englishman Justin Rose said. "And sometimes you need to get fortunate to win a golf tournament. The point is, you got to be right there and you got to be there to sort of bump it up if that is to happen.
"Faldo was a little different. I think they [he and Norman] were more eye to eye, so that was definitely very different. But Danny, the way he came in, I think the up-and-down off the back of 17, people don't appreciate how tough that chip was that Danny had and to hit such a quality shot when you know nerves are clearly going to be involved was impressive.''
That Willett was even here was a story in itself. His wife, Nicolle, was pregnant with the couple's first child -- and she was due on Masters Sunday. But the baby, Zach, was born the week before and Willett made the trek to the Masters, a bit unprepared, hitting balls only the Friday before.
He didn't arrive from England to Augusta National until Monday night, and having played the Masters just once previously, was forced to cram in two days of practice.
"Words can't describe it,'' Willett said. "But what I can say is that because I knew I had limited time, the quality and practice I did on those days was great.''
Willett, who has five European Tour victories, has at times struggled to recapture that glory. Clearly he has felt pressure living up to his major champion status.
He didn't contend at any of the other majors last year, and he has had only two top-5 finishes with no victories. And he doesn't come into the Masters in great form, with two lackluster finishes at the World Golf Championship events surrounding a withdrawal from the Arnold Palmer Invitational because of an illness.
"I think it's been a very difficult year for Danny Willett, trying to live up [to] the expectation of Masters champion,'' said Colin Montgomerie, who will serve as a TV analyst at the Masters. "It's been a difficult year to try and live up to that expectation. Honestly, I think he'll be quite thrilled to get this Masters out of the way and then now concentrate on the rest of his career without being the current Masters champion.''
No matter what, they can't take the green jacket away from Willett -- at least not the symbol. He will wear it around Augusta National this week, then return it to the club if he does not defend his title, putting the jacket on again upon each visit.
And they can't take away the victory, either. Some will argue that Spieth lost it rather than Willet won it, a perception that Faldo has dealt with over time. Faldo's round, however, has come to be appreciated, a big-picture look at how well he played to put the pressure on Norman.
"At the end of the day, you look at the score book,'' Faldo said. "In years to come, you see 'Faldo, 12 under.' The next best is 7 under. I was always say, you know where the tape is. It's at the end of 72 holes.''
Willett has yet to contemplate all of that. Only a few weeks ago, he had not even watched a replay of the final round since doing so briefly in the days after the Masters.
The year has sped by, and Willett promised he'd probably be emotional upon his first trip back to the club. That's what that 67 -- and Speith's problems -- did for him.
"Obviously, I don't think anyone could have equated to what happened down on 12 to Jordan, but then he still had chances on the last six holes to kind of come back and make birdies and still force a playoff,'' Willett said.
"It was great final round. We have shot better final rounds in our life, but under the circumstances, bogey-free round Augusta ... it is right up there, one of the best rounds I'll have played.''