Former Masters champion Danny Willett is set to be sidelined for six months by the shoulder injury which ruined his bid for a second BMW PGA Championship title.

The PA news agency understands that Willett will undergo surgery next week and hopes to be back in action in time for the first major of 2024 at Augusta National, where he won a Green Jacket in 2016.

Willett looked set to challenge for the the lead on day one at Wentworth when he covered his first 12 holes in six under par, only to aggravate a shoulder tear after hitting his tee shot on the 15th.

That led to a double bogey and the 2019 winner dropped three more shots on the last two holes and had to settle for a one-under-par 71.

“I hit balls for half an hour on Tuesday, half an hour yesterday and then the warm-up today and actually in fairness I felt pretty strong,” Willett said at the time. “But when it goes it goes.”

Willett went on to add rounds of 71, 70 and 76 to finish in a tie for 64th.

The eight-time DP World Tour winner, who pulled out of the Irish Open after an opening 76, visited a surgeon in Manchester on Monday to determine the best course of action.