Danny Willett splits with caddie Jonathan Smart

Danny Willett has been struggling to find the form he had to win the Masters in 2016 – and has now revealed he has split with caddie Jonathan Smart.

The pair have been friends since they were teenagers but had a disagreement during the RBC Heritage event in April that led to the demise of the partnership.

Willett had always credited Smart as a calming influence on his game, but after two missed cuts in a row their on-course argument led to Smart walking out on Willett. 

Willett confirmed to BBC Sport: ‘Things are a bit stale and kind of fizzled out.”

“It is a shame. But things happen and change, everything happens for a reason.”

Willett and Smart first paired together in 2010 and always appeared to be a great partnership  – with Willett crediting Smart’s decision to take a three wood instead of his driver on the final hole of Augusta National in 2016.

But following his victory Willett had a disappointing end to the year, and other than two top-5s on the European Tour, Willett failed to finish better than T37 in the other three Majors of the year. 

Willett’s game has followed the same frustrating strain in 2017. He was T5 at the Maybank Championship in February, but he’s also missed three of his last four cuts. And as his dip in form has seen him fall ten places in the rankings to World No. 21 this season, the relationship between him and Jonathan Smart clearly turned sour. 

Willett has now revealed that he has turned to another old friend, Sam Haywood, to be on his bag at the Players Championship this week. 

Haywood was best man at Willett’s wedding and has recently been on the bag of American player David Lipsky.

He explained: ‘Sam knows my game really well. We’ve played a lot of golf together over the last 10 or 15 years.

‘It’s nice having someone who you can speak frankly with. He knows where my game is and when it’s good. I think it’s going to be good.’