G4D Open: Wales’ Richie Willis takes on world’s best at Celtic Manor

Willis’ “worst injury”, it turned out, was a lacerated liver.

“I didn’t realise they had me on the table and they had 40 pints of blood to keep me going,” he says.

“They came to me afterwards and said they had given me a 10 per cent chance [of living]. They said obviously you wanted to live and that’s why you are still here.”

Willis, who was 42 at the time of his accident, spent five months in hospital.

Yet barely a year after he was allowed home, he was back holding a golf club.

Willis, from Ringland, Newport, had originally taken up the sport at the age of 35, having retired from a semi-professional football career which included a stint at Newport County AFC during their spell playing over the border in Moreton-in-Marsh.

Willis’ golf handicap was 11 before his accident. Remarkably, he now plays off six.

“I am really proud of that,” he says with a smile.

“Golf has meant everything to me. I said if I ever got injured and I couldn’t play sport, I wouldn’t really want to be here.

“Golf means I have been able to compete, playing sport with friends and keeping fit to a degree. It’s great for my wellbeing as well.”