Masters champion Willett says he's not having fun on the golf course

Since winning the Masters in April, it’s been a rough road for Danny Willett.

The Englishman became the first from his country to don a green jacket since Nick Faldo in 1996, and then he drew top billing on the European Tour as he gained higher marquee in events around the world. Unfortunately, Willett largely struggled since. His best major finish through the rest of the year was a tie for 37th at the U.S. Open. Prior to that in May, he finished third at the BMW PGA Championship.

The 29-year-old showed signs of a turnaround with a second-place finish at the Italian Open before the Ryder Cup. Then Willett’s brother, P.J., wrote a pre-Ryder Cup satirical column that led American fans to dog Willett throughout the matches and hinder his performance.

Since the Ryder Cup, Willett finished near the bottom of the field in missing the cut at the Dunhill Links Championship, finished 75th out of 78 players at the WGC-HSBC Champions and, on Sunday, finished T-68 at the 78-player, no-cut Turkish Airlines Open. In that 11-round stretch, Willett has broken 70 just twice and is showing signs of fatigue as he makes some swing changes.

It’s not a good time out there, and Willett isn’t mincing words about it.

“It just comes and goes, couple of good days and couple of bad days.” Willett said, according to Alex Miceli. “To be honest I don’t really want to be out there playing golf.”

Willett, who entered the Turkish Airlines Open as the de facto leader of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai, contemplated skipping next week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa ahead of the season-ending tournament in Dubai. That idea didn’t sit well, however. Even escaping the scrutiny inside the ropes may not bring solace.

“Things are just not going our way,” Willett said. “Nothing feels that great.”

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.