Danny Willett wishes he could have 're-wound time for two minutes' but is ready for Dunhill defence

Defending champion Danny Willett speaks in a press conference ahead of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Picture: Oisin Keniry/Getty Images.

Danny Willett is still hurting from his last-hole horror on the PGA Tour in California but reckons a Dunhill Links title defence in a field that includes both Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick will help get his mind back on the job.

The Englishman three-putted from inside four feet at the 72nd hole to lose out to American Max Homa in the Fortinet Championship, the opening event of the new season on the US circuit, at Silverado in Napa a week past Sunday.

Willett earned plaudits for taking the sore blow on the chin rather than feeling bitter, praising Homa, who had chipped in for a birdie at the last, for the way he’d secured a fifth PGA Tour title.

“Yeah, I don't know how you else would handle it,” said the 2016 Masters champion, speaking at St Andrews ahead of the 21st anniversary of the $5 million Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

“Inside, you're obviously screaming at yourself. (But) you can't look at that week in a bad way. You still finished second. You still picked up a hell of a lot of points.

“Would you have liked to have re-wound time for two minutes? Yeah. But we can't do that. We've got to kind of take from it and when we are in that position, won't happen (again). Like I say, take the positives from it.”

Willett said the boot had been the other foot when he holed a long putt on the final green to win the 2016 Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club to pip countryman Andy Sullivan and Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello.

But he admitted of how he’d let a second win on the PGA Tour slip from his grasp: “How that happened obviously was a little bit of a shock to the system at the time.”

Willett closed with a 68 over the Old Course on his 34th birthday a year ago to land an eighth DP World Tour title by two shots from two-time winner Tyrrell Hatton and Swede Joakim Lagergren.

This week’s edition is being headlined by FedEx Cup winner and DP World Tour Rankings leader McIlroy and US Open champion Fitzpatrick.

“It's great to have guys who are vying for Ryder Cup points, World Ranking points,” observed the defending champion, who also faces recent BMW PGA Championship winner Shane Lowry, American Billy Horschel and posse of LIV Golf players headed by Talor Gooch.

“You know, when them guys pitch up, it adds to an event and it's just nice that, you know, within that, they then bring, obviously Rory is playing with his dad, Matt is playing with his mum.

“It just shows how special this week is and what it does for golf as a whole and kind of how much fun this week can be for the guys that are here. It's just a great week.”

The final invitation for the event, which also takes place at Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, went to Filippo Celli, the young Italian who won the Silver Medal as leading amateur in the 150th Open at St Andrews in July. He’s since turned professional and recently came through a DP World Tour Qualifying School first-stage event.