Danny Willett pleased with progress after strong opening round at Carnoustie

Danny Willett says he has made real progress and can see his game coming together, having signed for a two-under 69 at Carnoustie on day one of the Open Championship.

The Sheffield golfer admitted ahead of the tournament that he had endured ’18 months of s***’ following a loss of form and injuries after his 2016 Masters win at Augusta.

Bogeys on 17 and 18 brought a rough end to an otherwise fine round in good conditions on the east coast of Scotland.

With the fairways running firm and fast, while the greens have been given a dousing, Willett rolled in some important putts, and was happy with his opening round.

"Some pretty solid golf really, a few missed opportunities coming down the stretch and then couple of silly ones down the last two,” the 30-year-old told Sky Sports.

"The golf course is gettable, conditions have been perfect the last few days and they are trying to get it a little bit firmer on the greens, which they were today, and they've snuck a few [difficult] flags in there as well.

"You'll see some good scores out there, but 69...it's a nice enough score in the first round of the Open."

Willett had returned to his old putting grip ahead of the Open, and it seemed to be paying dividends.

"It's been good, it was more for pace, especially when the greens are a little slower,” he added.

"Rolled it good today, there were a few missed opportunities, a few three-whacks but everything is kind of there or there abouts, just still waiting to put them all fully together at the same time, but there's definitely a lot of progress."