When Danny Willett secured an unlikely Masters win in 2016, he could never have imagined the footballing royalty he would celebrate his triumph with.
The Yorkshire native had competed at Augusta just once before when he finished T38 in 2015.
Aside from a T6 result at The Open in 2015, Willett had never placed higher than T15 at a major since 2010.
Safe to say, he was not a name many punters tipped as a favourite to win the first major of the calendar year.
Jordan Spieth, who took out the 2015 Masters and finished no lower than T4 at the other three majors that year, raced out in front as he ended the opening round on top of the leaderboard with a score of six-under.
Kiwi star Danny Lee and Irishman Shane Lowry shared second place on four-under, while Willett was on two-under.
Spieth dropped off slightly in the second round but remained in first place with four-under as Willett remained four strokes behind.
The American once again led after the third round on three-under, with Smylie Kaufman in second on two-under.
However, Willett remained in the hunt on even par.
It seemed like a second-straight Masters victory for Spieth would be a foregone conclusion when he carded birdies on his last four holes on the front nine to secure a five-shot lead over his rivals.
But a collapse of epic proportions lay just around the corner.
Spieth hit a bogey on the 10th and 11th hole and then sensationally scored a quadruple bogey on the 12th when he sent two of his balls into the water, dropping him to fourth on the leaderboard.
The ever-consistent Willett soon found himself in the lead when he carded birdies on the 13th, 14th and 16th.
Willett ultimately ended his final round at five-under, placing all the pressure on Spieth as he recovered enough to require birdies from two of his final three holes to tie with Willett.
Unfortunately for the American, he was unable to do so and finished two-under as Willett became the first Englishman to win the Masters since Nick Faldo in 1996.
But if Willett’s victory wasn’t legendary enough, then his post-tournament exploits most certainly were.
Speaking on the Life on Tour Podcast, Willett spilled the beans on how he celebrated at retired golfer-turned agent Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler’s rented property near Berckman’s on the Augusta course.
Although there may have been some familiar faces at the party, there were two Willett most certainly would not have expected to be in attendance.
“[Alan] Shearer and Alex Ferguson were there,” Willett said.
“It was probably 150 people in there. It was good fun. I probably took myself off at two or three in the morning.
“We’d had a good drink. I was there with my father-in-law, I had six pals that had all flown out, just brilliant. I had rented two houses down the road so we all went back at the same time.
“Then I got up at seven in the morning and went for a run. I was still pretty intoxicated, but I had so much adrenaline.”
So, despite having all of the previous night’s booze still in the stomach, was a morning run off of a few hours sleep as terrible as it sounds?
“It was like I was floating on a cloud, to be honest,” Willett said.
“It was the easiest run I’ve ever done.”
Although Willett went on to enjoy a strong 2016 season after his Masters victory with a win at the Dubai Desert Classic and solid finishes at over events, he was never recaptured the same heights.
He failed to make the cut at five of the next eight Masters events, with his best finish at a major being a T6 placing at The Open in 2019.
Willett now sits 604th in the world, but at least he’ll forever have that iconic green jacket in his possession.
