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Danny Willett said that a back injury due to the way he was swinging the club was the reason behind his withdrawal from the Players Championship.

After a seven-over-par 79 in the first round, the 2016 Masters champion started on the tenth hole but reached the turn in 40 – which included taking a triple-bogey on the par-3 17th – to be 11-over-par for the tournament.

Visibly struggling, Willett withdrew and took to Twitter on Friday night to explain to his 117,000 followers why he did so, before adding that after some disappointing results, his ‘body and mind need a rest’.

Earlier in the week, it was revealed that Willett had parted ways with his caddie Jonathan Smart after seven years as a partnership following a mid-tournament bust up at last month’s RBC Heritage.

Sam Haywood, caddie to European Tour player David Lipsky and best man at Willett’s wedding, had been on the bag for the Englishman at TPC Sawgrass.

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