Daniel Hillier produced a barnstorming finish to claim his maiden DP World Tour title at the 2023 Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.

After reaching the turn in 35 courtesy of two birdies and a single bogey on the front nine, European Challenge Tour graduate Hillier finished his round with a flourish, going eagle-birdie-eagle from the 15th to open up a two-shot lead.

The New Zealander suffered a late scare when he cleared the green at the tricky 18th, but he managed to save par there with a nerveless eight-foot putt to finish the tournament on ten under par.

With the final group several holes behind him, Hillier had to wait around an hour before finally being able to celebrate a stunning two-shot victory.

American Gunner Wiebe and Englishman Oliver Wilson were Hillier’s nearest challengers on eight under, with the trio booking their spots at the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

Englishman Justin Rose and Scottish pair Calum Hill and Ewen Ferguson were then in a tie for fourth on seven under, one ahead of Dane Niklas Nørgaard.

Starting the day three shots off the lead, Hillier came agonisingly close to holing his 22-foot eagle putt at the par-five third but instead had to settle for a tap-in birdie.

The 24-year-old gave the shot back after finding water at the sixth but did well to limit the damage to just a bogey.

He bounced back with a five-foot birdie on the ninth before parring each of the next five holes to remain some way off the pace.

But that suddenly changed at the long 15th as Hillier drained his 40-foot eagle effort to jump to seven under par.

And he followed that up with a stunning fairway bunker shot on the 16th to set up a close-range birdie, which earned him a share of the lead.

Hillier kept his foot on the gas at the par-five 17th, launching his second shot to six feet before tapping in the putt for his second eagle of the day.

Heading down the 18th with a two-shot lead, Hillier sent his second shot from the rough over the back of the enormous green – landing his ball alongside the trophy.

Knowing he still had work to do to avoid running up a big number, the New Zealander played a well-judged third before saving par from eight feet to give the chasing pack no realistic chance of catching him.

Hillier, who also recorded recent top-five finishes at the KLM Open and BMW International Open, was thrilled to enter the winner’s circle.

He said: “I’m over the moon and a bit lost for words.

“Those last few holes are going to take a while to process I think.

“The 15th – that tee shot’s been troubling me all week. It was nice to get one semi-in-play. A bit of an awkward lie for my second shot but managed to have a good five wood in there to 40 feet.

“The putt was racing but I managed to hit the back of the hole so that was a nice little bonus.

“And then a bit of a miscue on the 16th. Put it in that fairway trap but actually had a nice number in so it was a nice full wedge in there and I managed to get a nice little bounce off that slope.

“And then the 17th was a bit lucky. I just carried that trap and managed to make the most of that good break. 

“Then just held on for dear life down the last. I felt pretty good over (the final putt). I felt as comfortable as you can over a putt of that magnitude.

“And I just had to tell myself to put a good stroke on it.”

Hillier follows in the footsteps of countryman Bob Charles, who won this event in 1972, and he was thrilled to be in such illustrious company.

He added: “That’s pretty amazing. Obviously, he’s New Zealand’s golfing hero so it’s pretty cool to be on the same trophy as him.”

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Local hero Andy Sullivan enjoyed a birdie-birdie finish to make it a six-way tie at the top heading into the final day at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.

Joost Luiten and Guido Migliozzi had set an early target of seven under on day three at The Belfry but it seemed unlikely they would be at the top at the end of the day when they were signing their cards.

On a frenetic day of scoring in the wind, however, that proved to be the case as Sullivan, fellow Englishmen James Morrison and Oliver Wilson and Dane Niklas Nørgaard all finished at the same score.

German Maximilian Kieffer was then at six under, a shot clear of Frenchman Romain Langasque and South African duo Bryce Easton and Justin Walters, with 39 players within five shots of the lead.

Luiten – who finished second last week at the BMW International Open – and Migliozzi both fired rounds of 68, with the other four leading contenders getting round in 70.

Home duo Sullivan and Wilson were in the penultimate group and with a large crowd gathered on the 18th, the former got the biggest cheer of the day when he holed a 40-footer down the slope to join the lead.

The four-time DP World Tour winner hails from Nuneaton, less than a 30-minute drive from this week’s host venue, and he was delighted to be in contention so close to home after registering just one top ten so far this season.

“I’m absolutely buzzing,” he said. “I can’t wait. I’m not going to lie, I’ll probably go have a little beer right now to calm down because literally, the nerves on the last when the putt was going down, I was thinking, this could be three-putt.

“It’s amazing. It’s been so nice to see so many friendly faces out there. I’m going to enjoy it.

“I didn’t get anything going all day, very steady, very solid, and then the last couple of holes were sweet to finish like that.”

He will face some stiff competition if he is to make it win number five, though, with Luiten looking for his seventh, Migliozzi his fourth and Morrison and Wilson both seeking a third victory.

By the time overnight leaders Justin Rose and Antoine Rozner teed off, they were in a seven-way tie for the lead and it would be a congested leaderboard for the rest of the day.

Wilson left himself five feet at the second and then got up and down from the sand at the par-five third before a 32-footer at the fifth handed him the solo lead at eight under.

Morrison joined him as he sandwiched smart approaches at the second and eighth with a long putt at the fifth but Wilson put his tee shot to eight feet at the seventh to hit the front on his own.

He briefly had company from Rozner, who turned in 33, but the Frenchman put two in the water at the tenth for a quadruple bogey as he dropped six shots in three holes.

The start of the back nine was proving tricky as both Wilson and Morrison went bogey-bogey on the tenth and 11th and, while Morrison hit back from 20 feet on the 13th, it was Nørgaard who reached the summit next.

Amid all the chaos, he had made 11 pars after holing from off the green at the second, but he then put his tee shot to five feet at the 14th and made a two-putt birdie at the par-five 15th to lead at eight under.

He put his tee shot at the 17th into the trees and had to play out sideways, making it a five-way tie once again, which Morrison broke out of with a two-putt birdie on the same hole before bogeying the last with a three-putt.

Sullivan had made a two-putt birdie at the third and hit a smart approach into the ninth before he too struggled after the turn, bogeying the 11th and 12th, before he set up his big finish by getting up and down at the par-five 17th.

Earlier, Dutchman Luiten had turned in 36 with a birdie and a bogey but then holed a long putt at the 15th, got up and down on the 15th and eagled the 17th with an incredible 70-footer.

Migliozzi, meanwhile, holed a 19-footer at the second and then put a remarkable second to eight feet at the next to set up an eagle.

A bogey came at the seventh but the Italian put his approach to six feet at the 13th and made a two-putt par on the 15th to sit a shot ahead of Kieffer, who also carded a 68.

Rose was then in a 12-man group at four under after a 74, a shot ahead of Rozner and seven others.

Matthew Baldwin secured a £50,000 donation to Prostate Cancer UK from Betfred as he made it 28 holes-in-one from 28 events this season, holing a five iron from 198 yards at the 14th.

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Justin Rose produced a late fightback to share the lead with Antoine Rozner heading into the weekend at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.

The Major Champion entered day two at The Belfry with a one-shot lead and still held that when he teed off in the afternoon, with Frenchman Rozner having set the target at six under with a 68.

But he would soon find himself three off the lead after four bogeys in his first ten holes before he picked up three shots in his last seven in a 73 to rejoin Rozner at the summit.

English amateur John Gough was then at five under alongside countrymen James Morrison, Andy Sullivan and Oliver Wilson, defending champion Thorbjørn Olesen, another Dane in Niklas Nørgaard and German Yannik Paul.

Rose claimed the second of his 11 DP World Tour wins at this event back in 2002 and since then has achieved almost everything there is to in the game, winning the 2013 U.S. Open along with Olympic Gold, World Golf Championships, Rolex Series events and topping the Rankings on both sides of the Atlantic en route to being a World Number One.

On a wet and windy day, however, The Belfry can be a test for anyone and Rose was delighted to use all his experience after his poor start on day two.

“If I had gone and shot 76 today, I’d have walked off and been quite bewildered because I did not play that badly but the score had slipped away from me after ten holes and that is what it is,” he said. “The scorecard doesn’t lie at the end of the day.

“You count on those par-fives on the back nine a little bit, 15 and 17, to try to give you some opportunities. But they are certainly no gimmie birdies, either.

“So I’m sticking with it and readjusted my goals. Actually set myself a goal for the last seven holes to be three under par and that’s what it turned out to be.

“Didn’t appreciate that I would still be leading the golf tournament but through 36 holes I’m in a great spot.”

Rozner is enjoying yet another impressive season on the DP World Tour since his 2019 graduation from the European Challenge Tour which was achieved with the help of two wins in as many weeks in Spain and the Czech Republic.

Since then he has finished in the top 50 on the Rankings every season, claiming three wins – including the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in December – and he has three other top tens and just two missed cuts from 15 starts this campaign.

“I’ve been hitting the ball pretty solid for the most part,” he said. “Putting has been good even though the last few weeks were a bit not as good.

“But I think my whole game is good. I don’t have any weakness in my game, so I think that helps me just be very consistent week after week.

“It’s a course where I’ve never really played well. So just to be able to get out and produce some solid golf, I was really happy with that in the first place. Today, I caught a few putt drops, so that’s good. I’m right where I need to be, so really happy with my game so far.”

Rozner was among the early starters and he put a tee shot to four feet on the tenth and then holed a long putt at the next before surrendering a bogey on the 15th.

Antoine Rozner. Image supplied

A two-putt birdie on the par-five 17th, another long putt on the 18th and a smart approach to 14 feet on the second had him just one back but he bogeyed the fourth before picking the shot back up on the eighth from seven feet.

He was in a share as Rose three-putted from the fringe on the first and soon had top spot to himself as the overnight leader hit a poor tee shot on the fifth.

The home hero was tumbling down the leaderboard as he three-putted the seventh and missed the green at the tenth, with Gough taking over the English charge.

He holed from off the green at the 12th and while he gave the shot back at the 14th, he took advantage of the 17th and holed from 18 feet at the next to share the lead.

A dropped shot at the fourth was followed by an approach to tap-in range at the next which got him back to six under, where he was soon joined by a resurgent Rose.

The 42-year-old put a tee shot to eight feet at the 12th and took advantage of a big drive at the next before making a fifth bogey of the day with a three-putt at the 14th.

But he got up and down from the sand with the help of a 34-footer at the par-five 15th and then made a two-putt birdie on his penultimate hole to get back in a share.

Gough had a chance to take the solo lead after an impressive tee shot at the seventh but missed from 12 feet before finding the water at the next to sign for a 71.

Paul had briefly been at the summit as he recovered from bogeys on the fourth and sixth with birdies on the tenth, 13th, 15th and 17th but a poor chip on the last dropped him back to five under after a 71.

Olesen made five birdies and two bogeys in his 69, a tally shared by Nørgaard, while Sullivan birdied five of his last seven holes in a 68.

Wilson carded a 70 and Morrison signed for a 71 to sit a shot ahead of Scottish pair Ewen Ferguson and Robert MacIntyre and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune.

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Justin Rose delighted the home crowds with an opening 65 that handed him a one-shot lead at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.

With big galleries gathered at the storied setting of The Belfry, the Englishman dropped just a single shot in getting to seven under to lead the way from fellow Briton Jamie Donaldson.

Amateur John Gough was then at four under alongside fellow Englishman James Morrison, Spaniard Sebastian Garcia, German Yannik Paul and Frenchman Adrien Saddier.

Rose won the second of his 11 DP World Tour titles – and so far only one in England – at this event in 2002 and since then has gone on to have a remarkable career including a Major Championship victory, two Rolex Series wins, two World Golf Championships triumphs, a Harry Vardon Trophy and a spell at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking.

He has also played on three Ryder Cup-winning teams and could be on course for a return to the European fold after claiming a first win in four years on the PGA TOUR at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February.

His last win on the DP World Tour came in 2018 when he claimed the second of back-to-back wins at the Turkish Airlines Open and the 42-year-old believes he is in a good position to take a 12th career victory.

“I think anybody who is playing in a rich vein of form has fairly simple thoughts and has good, strong feels and you kind of layer those feels week-to-week-to-week which obviously builds trust in your game,” he said. “I think I have a clear sort of blueprint with what I’m working on and can build momentum behind it.

“I felt very comfortable with my game from the first shot, really. Hit a beautiful little wedge into the tenth hole. Got off to a good start, nice birdie there, and I actually think that’s probably the best, cleanest round of golf I’ve played in a long, long time, probably even this year, as well as I have been playing.

“That one just felt a little smoother and I really drove the ball well. The fairways are incredibly narrow here and I felt confident with the driver and felt like the irons were being struck pretty cleanly and I haven’t had many putts, really, through the front nine to be four under par.

“Managed to actually make a few coming in, which is great, and obviously all amounted to a very good day’s work.”

Rose left himself a tap-in on the tenth and then put his tee-shot to seven feet on the par-three 12th before a pair of two-putt birdies on the par-five 15th and 17th saw him turn in 32.

Approaches to inside ten feet on the second and fifth were followed by a 31-foot putt on the sixth which opened up a three-shot lead but when Rose went over the back of the eighth for his only bogey of the day, he was in a share with the fast-finishing Donaldson.

The Welshman made a two-putt birdie on the par-five third and holed from 13 feet on the next but he found water on the sixth and was just one under after 12 holes.

A birdie from four feet on the 13th was followed by a par but the then got up and down from the sand on the 15th, put an approach to three feet on the next, birdied the 17th after laying up and then holed a 41-footer on the last for a four-birdie finish.

It looked like he would finish the day alongside Rose with the 2013 U.S. Open champion 24 feet away on the ninth but Rose made the putt to edge ahead.

“I was just trying to be patient,” said Donaldson. “You never know. The holes were a lot of downwind holes towards the end there, so it made it easier to have birdie chances and hit a few good shots.

Jamie Donaldson. Image supplied

“That was a nice one to hole on 18 from a distance. That green is so slopey, you’re just happy with two putts and a par but it was great to see it go in and finish well there.

“I’m only an hour and ten minutes from home, so it’s great to play on British soil. I love it. I’ve always enjoyed playing on British soil because it’s what you’re used to, isn’t it? It’s what you’ve grown up with and what you’re used to. Great coming here and playing here at The Belfry.”

Garcia had been one shot off the lead before he found water at the sixth to surrender a double-bogey that was his only blemish of the day.

Morrison was bogey-free, Gough made five birdies after bogeying the first, Paul – who rated his chances of playing at just 30 per cent on Tuesday due to injury – made six birdies and two bogeys, while Saddier had an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys.

There was then a group of 11 players four shots off the lead.

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In 1985, Golf Digest contributor Tom Callahan, in his guise as the sports guy for Time Magazine, wrote a profile of Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird and Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky. In the piece, Callahan told the remarkable tale of how both men, when shown a picture from the previous night’s game, could relate where the ball/puck and every other player was at that moment, where they had just been and where they were about to go.

Well, Nick Faldo can do that too. Mostly. On the eve of his hosting of this week’s Betfred British Masters, the six-time major champion’s attention was drawn to a photograph of himself on the wall. “Royal Birkdale 1983” came the reply. “I was leading the Open with nine holes to play and blew up. That was one of the big reasons why I decided to change my swing. That guy wasn’t going to win six majors.”

Faldo’s trip down memory lane was appropriate given where he is this week. The soon-to-be 66-year-old and The Belfry go back 45 years. Long before Faldo would play in three Ryder Cups in the English Midlands, he was part of the Great Britain & Ireland team that took on the Continent of Europe in something called the Hennessy Cup. Playing Seve Ballesteros, Faldo witnessed first-hand the historic moment when the Spaniard—armed with a persimmon driver and a balata ball—drove the green at the 311-yard 10th hole.

Today a plaque marks that spot, not far from another. On The Belfry’s 14th tee a marker records the fact that, using a 6-iron, Faldo made an ace during the 1993 Ryder Cup matches.

All of which got the man who was World No. 1 for 97 weeks marching further down recollection road. Yes, his game is suffering from what looked like terminal neglect—the turn isn’t quite as full and the backswing definitely not as long—over the nine holes he played in the pre-tournament pro-am. But no matter. Almost a year after his retirement from commentating on CBS and more than 20 summers since he played regularly on the PGA Tour, the last Englishman to win the Open Championship was just getting going.

“I’m fortunate,” he says of a playing career that boasted over 40 victories worldwide. “I’m not carrying any scars. I did miss out on a couple of U.S. Opens. And I’ve hit the odd bad shot here and there. But nothing is really bugging me. I came close to throwing the Open away at Muirfield in 1992. I had a four-shot lead, lost it, and then got it back. That would have lived on in my head had I lost that day. It must be a horrible thing to carry in your mind. I think Jean van de Velde must wake up in the night screaming. He has to.

“His situation is interesting though. If you know you have to make, say, a 3-to-tie, you immediately have a picture of that in your mind. But how do you picture making a 6 to win? I can’t see that one. Which makes it tricky and interesting psychologically. Maybe you should always think ‘3 to win’ no matter what. That gives you a focus. Hitting shots without that is asking for trouble, as Jean showed.”

Pressed to compare the style of play when he was at the pinnacle of golf and the power-dominated game on display these days, Faldo wasn’t slow to emphasize the nuance and subtlety of his approach. Often enough labelled “robotic,” he was actually anything but.

Nick Faldo holds the trophy after winning the 1990 Open Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews. David Cannon

“Nick is a perfectionist,” points out his former caddie, Fanny Sunesson. “He was so focused. There wasn’t a part of the game where he was weak. But his distance control always stood out. He was so good with that. And that made him really strong on difficult courses. His half-shot was amazing. He was so good at eliminating spin, which requires so much feel and he had so much of that. He could hit so many different shots using a balata ball and the old clubs. And he was great in the wind.”

In turn, Faldo wasn’t denying the love of control he brought to the game en route to his three Masters titles and three Open wins.

“Back in the day, Fanny and I were working to a yard with the wedges,” he says. “She would put a ball down every yard and I would try to hit them. On a good day, I’d be plus or minus a yard on almost every shot. It was a great feeling to hit one 99, then the next 100, and then one after that 101. With enough practice, you get that good.

“I don’t think you can do that with the modern ball. I spoke to Bryson [DeChambeau] three years ago. He told me he couldn’t feel a wedge shot within 10 yards. I can’t either with the balls they use now. It is just so difficult to ‘call a number’ with a wedge now. Which is the reason behind some of [Rory McIlroy’s] issues. He might be better to sacrifice 20 yards with the driver and use a ball he can really trust.”

And he laments the shift in emphasis in today’s game at the elite level. Distance control has given way to a simple search for pure distance.

“I stand on the range watching guys hit balls and I see 15-20-yard differences in where they are landing,” says Faldo. “That would have driven me nuts. I was never robotic though. I used to hit little fades and draws all the time. I had the hold-off. I had the chicken wing. I had the bunt. And I had the rotate. I don’t see that level of subtlety anymore. But the ball doesn’t help. I remember Lee Trevino saying he tried to keep the ball on the clubface for a foot of his swing. That was his feeling. Now it’s the opposite. Now they want to keep the ball on the face for a millisecond and explode off the clubface.”

Moving right along, Faldo, like everyone else with even a passing interest in the game, has watched as the LIV Golf saga has unfolded. Previously on record as describing the LIV Golf League as “meaningless,” he now subscribes to the common view that there are many decisions ahead before a final resolution can be reached.

“I stand by what I said already,” he maintains. “I wouldn’t want to play it. I honestly don’t think 54 holes feel like real golf. Going to the first tee in a London taxi. Then you’ve got somebody on a violin before you tee off. I’m not sure that would have been Faldo back in the day. To be honest there’s only half a dozen [players] who are current. You don’t really know half the field who are there because it’s very nice last-place money. If you shoot 20 over you still get that rather than going home. So nothing feels competitive. I think they all suffer with the atmosphere, and you have to tell the players that only 20,000 people saw them. People would rather watch Penn and Teller doing magic tricks.”

Nick Faldo on the 10th hole during the pro-am prior to the British Masters at The Belfry in England. Ross Kinnaird

Then there is how the DP World Tour handles the possible return of renegades like Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia. Each case, says Faldo, is different, depending on the attitude and public utterances of each player.

“There will be guys who went to LIV for nothing, how much can you find them?” he asks. “Then there’s the guy who was paid $100 million. It will depend too on how much they have spoken out. There have been some seriously different attitudes. I shook my head when I heard Sergio saying he was finally being paid what he is worth. Which is a bit rich when no one really cares about the results of the LIV tour.

“I look at it this way: ‘OK, you went to your little bubble but the little bubble didn’t quite turn out the way you expected. It just wasn’t as big as you thought it was going to be.’ I can’t believe they get much satisfaction out of playing in those LIV events.”

Inevitably, the conversation turned to the Ryder Cup, an event where Faldo won 25 points in his career, in addition to his admittedly controversial captaining of the losing European squad in 2008. Scorning any suggestion that the event needs a close result after a series of blowouts on both sides, he will be rooting strongly for an Old World victory in Italy come September.

“I have to go for Europe,” he predicts. “I really like the character of the team. We have a backbone of eight, maybe nine. And three of those—McIlroy, [Jon] Rahm and [Viktor] Hovland—are really outstanding. Tyrrell [Hatton] can play. So can [Shane] Lowry. So can [Tommy] Fleetwood. Throw in [Matt] Fitzpatrick too, although he has had a rough time with match play. He’s a better player now than he was even two years ago though. On top of all that, give me one rookie who gets 2 points and they are going to be really hard to beat.”

Speaking of which, Faldo was finally able to identify one big regret from his playing career. The premature death of his great rival, Ballesteros, robbed the pair of a friendship that was in its infancy and what could have been an opportunity to hit the road together.

“The hug I got from Seve behind the 18th green at Oak Hill at the end of the 1995 Ryder Cup is still one of the best moments of my career,” says Faldo. “Thinking of it still makes me cry. Imagine me and Seve playing exhibition matches in our mid-60s. We’d take anyone on, after negotiating how many shots we would get and which tees we would play from of course. It would be hilarious. We would have been booked every week. So that is my only regret. When we played the Seve Trophy he came to me and said we had to be friends after being such fierce competitors. He told me he was going to send me a ham. But he never did. He is such a loss to the game.”

The same could be said of the retired Faldo.

“Look at Nick’s record,” points out 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose. “It is unbelievable. I’ve always had aspirations to be as good as he was and I haven’t managed it yet. So I know how tough it is to do what he did. He committed his life to the game, which is even more impressive. Nick’s work ethic is the standard everyone aims for.”

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The Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo is the ninth event in The Open Qualifying Series and will be played from 29 June-2 July at The Belfry.

Players in the field at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo who are already exempt for The 151st Open:
Adri Arnaus
Romain Langasque
David Micheluzzi
Shubhankar Sharma
Alexander Bjork
Thriston Lawrence
Guido Migliozzi
Callum Shinkwin
Dan Bradbury
Min Woo Lee
Thorbjorn Olesen
Marcel Siem
Jorge Campillo
Hurley Long
Yannik Paul
Jordan Smith
Ewen Ferguson
Joost Luiten
Victor Perez
Ockie Strydom
Kazuki Higa
Robert MacIntyre
Richie Ramsay
Connor Syme
Rikuya Hoshino
Adrian Meronk
Justin Rose
Sami Valimaki 

In the event of a tie for a qualifying place, the player with the higher ranking in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) at the beginning of the week commencing 26 June will be awarded a place in The 151st Open.

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By John Huggan
SUTTON COLDFIELD, England — When Thorbjørn Olesen reached the 17th tee on The Belfry’s Brabazon Course in the final round of the Betfred British Masters, victory looked unlikely. Leader since day one, the Dane was four over par for the day, seven under for the tournament and two shots adrift of Sebastian Soderberg.

With a closing 68, the Danish had posted an aggregate of 279, what for long enough amidst much sloppiness by a host of challengers appeared for all the world like the winning score.

One man had faith though. Standing on the 17th tee, Olesen’s caddie, Dom Bott, turned to his man and uttered the now memorable phrase: “A repeat of what you did yesterday would help.”

Which, as it turned out, is just what Olesen did. A 28-foot putt for eagle on the par-5 17th disappeared into the cup, leaving the former Ryder Cup player needing a birdie on the 497-yard par-4 18th to claim his sixth DP World Tour title. As much as 35 feet away for birdie after his approach to the three-tiered green, Olesen—what else?—rolled it in again. Game over.

“It was obviously a pretty tough day,” was Olesen’s initial reaction. “I hit a lot of shots to the left. I was really struggling. But somehow, I kept going. And yeah, what a finish. Incredible. Standing on 17, I’m thinking I can make birdie, birdie and maybe get into a playoff. But obviously, when I got the chance on 17, I took it. Even then, 18 is a tough hole, one where par is a good score obviously. I just gave it everything.”

Eagle-Birdie finish ?@Thorbjornolesen made two consecutive putts of 30ft and 36ft to win for the first time in four years.

#BetfredBritishMasters pic.twitter.com/Vj7BrU6ZGb

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 8, 2022

Later, after being doused in champagne on the 18th green by his compatriots, the identical Hojgaard twins, Rasmus and Nicolai, Olesen had a little more to add. Not that he found it easy. Understandably emotional only eight months after being cleared of wrongdoing after alleged incidents on a flight from the U.S. to London saw him end up in a court of law, Olesen was close to tears more than once.

“I have so much emotions,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I won. I was really struggling out there. I just didn’t have it. But somehow, I kept on fighting, made some pars and saw I still had a chance with two to play.

“My life the last two years has been extremely hard. But I’ve had some great people around me. Especially [partner] Lauren in some really tough times. She kept me going. It was so tough, which makes this so special. My family, too, my parents and my brother. They all stood behind me. I felt like I was never going to win again, even play again. Standing here after a lot of hard work means so much.

“Holing two putts like that gives you so much confidence. And now I know I can still do it. Even with all the emotions I had in my head today.”

Thorbjørn Olesen is hugged by competitor and tournament host Danny Willett. Ross Kinnaird

The same cannot, however, be said of nearly every one of the stream of challengers who came up just short on a day when the best score was 68.

Needing a par on the 72nd hole that would have seen him into a playoff with Olesen, former U.S. Amateur champion Richie Ramsay found water when his planned 217-yard approach to the distant green flew no more than 170 yards—“I was aiming to ride it on the wind and I just duffed it.” The Scot eventually made double bogey and finished T-2 with, as it turned out four others.

Justin Walters, who lost a playoff for the ISPS Handa Championship on this same course back in 2020, was left ruing the bogey 6 he made on the 15th. The Englishman’s 71 was two shots too many.

American Chase Hanna required a birdie-birdie conclusion to his day but took a 6 on the par-5 17th to effectively end his hopes.

Hurly Long needed what would have been only the fifth birdie of the day on the 18th to tie what was then the lead, but hit his ball two times too many.

Indeed, amongst the eventually unavailing list of challengers, only Scotland’s Connor Syme finished with anything that could be construed as forward momentum. But the three successive birdies he made from the 15th were still two shots too many and too little, too late for the former Australian amateur champion.

Which left Soderberg. In contrast to all but Syme, the Swede’s back nine of 32 blows looked for all the world would be good enough for him to win for the second time on tour.

But it wasn’t. Not quite. A fact that only one man saw coming.

“Standing on the 17th tee, I knew Thorbjorn could still do it,” claimed Bott. “I know what he is like in situation like that. He loves a crowd.”

And the last two holes at The Belfry, of course.

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The post Incredibly, Thorbjorn Olesen repeats eagle-birdie finish to capture British Masters appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Huggan
Confirming recent reports, Keith Pelley announced on Thursday that the European Tour, dormant since the Qatar Masters in March, will resume its 2020 season with the British Masters on July 22. A week earlier than originally scheduled, that tournament at Close House will be the first of a six-event run in Great Britain, what Pelley labelled his “U.K. swing and a glimpse into future.” Next up is the English Open at the Marriott Forest of Arden, then the English Championship at Marriott Hanbury Manor, followed by the Celtic Classic and the Wales Open (both at Celtic Manor) and the U.K. Championship at The Belfry.

Funded by the European Tour, all six tournaments will be played without fans but with full fields of 144 competitors—subject to “government approval” and any lifting of the current two-week quarantine regulation for visitors to the United Kingdom. All will offer purses of €1 million. Importantly, each venue has a large hotel on-site and is no more than a three-hour drive from the previous host.

“We have been working with the department for culture, media and sport for the last two months,” said the European Tour CEO. “We have had significant dialogue with them. And we are encouraged by the responses that have allowed us to make this announcement today. I’m optimistic.”

While the tour is planning to play as many as 24 events between July and December, only four additional events are currently in place: the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club (Oct. 8-11), the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, (Oct. 15-18), the Nedbank Challenge at Sun City in South Africa (Dec. 3-6) and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai (Dec. 10-13). The remainder, according to Pelley, will hopefully be announced “within the next month.”

Asked about the spectre of playing closed-door events at the outset, Pelley noted: “We want to have fans at our events. But it is a fact that spectators and hospitality make up only 5 percent of our total revenue at an event. From a business perspective, it is not critical for us. But it is, of course, from an optics side. We hope to see the return of hospitality and galleries as soon as possible. But it is hard to imagine us seeing 30,000-40,000 people at Wentworth this year, as we did in 2019.”

Still, despite this mini-revival, obvious questions remain over the financial state of a circuit that has had to cancel or postpone in excess of 20 events so far this year. Ironically, one of the tour’s great strengths—its diversity—has actually become one of its biggest challenges. Dealing with so many different nations has clearly been challenging.

“Determining where and when we can play has been the biggest question,” Pelley said. “We’ve had a plethora of conversations with all governments regarding quarantine, travel restriction and testing. But is the European Tour bankrupt or running out of money? Absolutely not. Of course we have been affected, like businesses the world over. But we have been extremely responsible in our approach to this global crisis. I’m not going to go into financial details, but we have created five tournaments from scratch. We have implemented a £500,000 bonus pool. We have made a significant investment in our medical health strategy.

“All in all, we have devised a plan that has allowed us to do three things,” he said. “It has allowed us to navigate through this initial phase of the crisis and resurrect our 2020 schedule. It has helped us prepare for the short-term future. And it has helped us create a platform for the longer-term future.”

Pelley was more reticent when it came to queries about the upcoming Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. The possible postponement of the biennial contest between Europe and the United States and any implications for the qualifying system were met with polite denials.

“As has been the case with the European Tour over the past few months, we’ll not be making any definitive statements or engaging in any further speculation about the Ryder Cup today,” he said. “We still have to discuss every element. All I can say is that it is still on the schedule and that we will be having further dialogue with our friends at the PGA of America.”

RELATED: Rory McIlroy says his ‘personal hunch’ is Ryder Cup gets postponed

As will be the case when the PGA Tour resumes next month, the initial wave of six European Tour events will be subject to strict health-related regulations. All players will undergo a COVID testing before leaving home and again upon arrival at a tournament. Anyone developing symptoms will be tested more than twice.

“We have utilized robust health assessment regulations from the World Health Organization,” said Dr. Andrew Murray, the tour’s chief medical officer, who is a professor of immunology at the University of Edinburgh. “All measures in place will be based on international best practices and be right for golf. These include social distancing, enhanced hygiene, increased medical capacity and testing.”

In all, no more than 500 people will be in attendance at any of the initial six events—all of which will be shown live on Sky Sports and Golf Channel—a figure that will not include any media representatives. Journalists will be able to cover the event via a “virtual media centre.”

“We have a few innovations in mind,” Pelley said. “We see this as an opportunity to create a television product that is different to what we have seen in the past.”

UK Swing
Jul 22-25:  Betfred British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood, Close House Golf Club, England
July 30- Aug 2: English Open, Marriott Forest of Arden, England
Aug 6-9: English Championship, Marriott Hanbury Manor,  England
Aug 13-16: Celtic Classic, The Celtic Manor Resort, Wales
Aug 20-23: Wales Open, The Celtic Manor Resort, Wales
Aug 27-30: UK Championship, The Belfry, England

Rolex Series
Oct 8-11:  Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, The Renaissance Club, Scotland
Oct 15-18: BMW PGA Championship, Wentworth Club, England
Dec 3-6: Nedbank Golf Challenge Hosted by Gary Player, Gary Player CC, South Africa
Dec 10-13: DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, Jumeirah Golf Estates, UAE

The post European Tour to restart 2020 season in July with six-event U.K. swing appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But the 51-year-old Englishman has one final domestic commitment before he sets out for the likes of fabled Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York and Hillside Golf Club in Southport, England – this weekend’s Dubai Trophy.

The Trump Dubai member will take some serious confidence into the annual Ryder Cup-style matches between the EGF’s best and the UAE PGA Tour’s top teaching pros as well after waltzing the 2019 EGF Order of Merit Championship by five strokes at Al Ain Equestrian Shooting & Golf Club last weekend.

Kelbrick had already captured the season-long EGF title before Al Ain but capped another consistent campaign with his first win of the season after firing rounds of 68-68-67 for a 7-under-par, 203 aggregate. He collected a total of 17 birdies during the 54-hole event where Ziang Xu (Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club) was runner-up following rounds of 71-67-70 for a two-under-par, 205 total. UAE National Team Member Ahmed Skaik was third on 215 after scores of 74-71-70.

A job well done to the 2018 – 2019 Order of Merit Season & Championship Winners. Full report to follow. @aesgc pic.twitter.com/6YwScGURNk

— Emirates Golf Fed. (@EGFuaegolf) April 20, 2019

After the Dubai Trophy at Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf Club, Kelbrick will begin gearing up for the 83rd Anderson Memorial at Winged Foot from June 6-9. The John G. Anderson Memorial Four-Ball is one of America’s premier amateur invitational events. Created in 1933 to honour Winged Foot founding member and two-time U.S. Amateur runner-up John G. Anderson, the event consists of a 36 hole qualifier followed by two days of match play competition in both Championship and Senior divisions.

Kelbrick, who missed the cut at the recent Jordan Mixed Open, is also eyeing the June 13-15 European Senior Men’s Championship at Golf Patriziale Ascona in Switzerland ahead of Senior Open qualifying at Hillside G.C., also the venue for next month’s British Masters (May 9-12) being hosted by Tommy Fleetwood.

2018 – 2019 Emirates Golf Federation Order of Merit Winners

Hyeonji Kang, meanwhile, won the Ladies EGF Order of Merit Championship by an even more commanding six strokes. Kang shot rounds of 73-66-66 for a five-under-par 205 total while runner-up Chantal El Chaib (72-69-70, 211) and Natalli Gupta (72-74-69, 215) rounded out the podium in Al Ain.

Kang has enjoyed a historic season by winning the not only the overall Ladies OOM title but also winning the Junior Girls Gross Division while also sharing first place in the Junior Girls Nett Division.

The Junior Division was played with the girls and boys combined. Jay Mullane started strong and maintained that lead over the two rounds firing 70-74 for a winning total of 144. Asanka White (75-74) and Viggo Sorensen (77-73) were second and third respectively.

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