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.

The post Justin Rose fights back to share Belfry lead with Antoine Rozner appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

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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By John Huggan
The rise and rise of Rasmus Hojgaard continues. Already a winner this season at the Mauritius Open—in his fifth career European Tour start—the 19-year-old Dane has doubled his victory tally after only 10 more appearances. Hojgaard’s par 4 at the second extra hole was enough to beat South Africa’s Justin Walters and clinch the U.K. Championship title at The Belfry.

The playoff pair had tied at 14-under-par 274 on the four-time Ryder Cup venue’s Brabazon course, one shot better than former U.S. Open and PGA champion Martin Kaymer and Frenchman Benjamin Hebert. World No. 30 Bernd Wiesberger, the highest-ranked player in the field, tied for fifth alongside Scotsman Craig Howie on 12 under.

In ideal scoring conditions—41 of the 64-strong field broke par—Hojgaard’s closing 65 tied for low round of the day. He was four under par for the last five holes, an eagle at the par-5 17th the highlight when his 260-yard hybrid second shot pulled up no more than 10 feet from the cup. A safe par at the treacherous 18th (where he made a triple-bogey 7 on Thursday) set the target only Walters could match.

“It’s been a tough day,” said Hojgaard, who began the final round five shots behind Walters. “I went out with the same mindset I had all week. My aim was just to give myself as many birdie opportunities as possible, then see if I could take advantage of them. Much more than yesterday, I managed that. The last six holes were a bit of a blur. I was disappointed when I made a bogey on the 12th, then again when I didn’t birdie the par-5 15th. But from then on I took the chances when they came along. The shot I hit to the 17th green was the best of them though. It was an incredible shot.”

Up to fourth on the Race to Dubai and (provisionally) around 60th in the world, Hojgaard also topped the mini Order of Merit made up of the six events of the European Tour’s initial U.K. Swing. No surprise there for the man who was part of Denmark’s winning side at the 2018 World Amateur Team Championship (alongside twin brother, Nicolai). Second at the British Masters, T-6 at the Hero Open and third at the English Championship, Hojgaard was clearly the most consistent performer over the six-week stretch. Not bad for a teenager who was at the European Tour Qualifying School less than a year ago. In three weeks time, he will make his U.S Open debut at Winged Foot.

In contrast to the winner’s beaming smile in the immediate aftermath of victory, it was a day of disappointment for at least some of those piled up behind the precocious champion. Walters in particular. In what was his 227th European Tour start the 39-year-old remains winless at the end of a round that contained a little bit of everything. Two shots clear with 18 holes to play, Walters made seven birdies and two bogeys in his closing 70. But the drive he hit out-of-bounds way right of the eighth fairway en route to a triple-bogey 7 will surely be his biggest regret.

Ross Kinnaird

Likewise, Kaymer’s search for a first victory since the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst continues. The 34-year-old German looked the likely winner for much of the back nine. First to reach 13 under par, and first to reach 14 under, Kaymer struck a series of beautiful iron shots into the soft Belfry greens. Most of those birdie chances went unrequited, however. Although the bogey 6 at the reachable 17th, where, after a wayward drive, he took three to get down from just off the green, will no doubt be the unforced error the former World No. 1 will rue most.

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By Daniel Rapaport
A 22-year-old Irishman made history on Thursday, becoming the first golfer with disabilities to compete in a European Tour event.

Brendan Lawlor shot 84 in the first round of the ISPS Handa UK Championship at The Belfry in England. He has a rare genetic disorder called Ellis-van Creveld syndrome, which is characterized by short limb dwarfism, abnormal development of fingers and/or toes and, often, congenital heart defects. He has not let any of that get in the way of a budding professional career and was excited upon receiving a sponsor’s invitation to play against some of the best players in Europe.

“I’m feeling really good and looking forward to it,” he told the Irish Examiner. “It’s going to be a nice week and I’m going to go in and enjoy it.

“ISPS Handa had an invite for me to attend and I’m extremely grateful for that. I became an ambassador for them this year and what they represent is incredible, not just golf but in all different sports, like wheelchair basketball and able-bodied sports as well. So they’re a massive advocate for that and I’m grateful for the invite.”

Lawlor turned professional last September and is represented by Modest Golf, the agency founded by music star Niall Horan. The no. 4 player in the World Rankings for Golfers With Disability, he is an ambassador for ISPS Handa, and also recently signed an endorsement deal with TaylorMade. Lawlor has emerged as something of a leader in the disabled golf community, a title he fully embraces.

“I love it and it just feels natural to promote the game and make disability golf as big as we can make it and get more players in,” he told the Examiner. “It doesn’t have to be at the competitive level, but on a well-being level as well and that side is very important too.

“So it is a big week, not just for myself but a big week for people looking in and believing they can get to that level and compete and most importantly get the invite. What we represent is so special and there are some inspirational stories to hear and I think there’s going to be a lot more events that we’ll be taking part in.”

Lawlor is expected to also tee it up in next week’s Challenge Tour event, the IN Open.

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By John Huggan
On paper at least, the sixth and last event on the European Tour’s U.K. Swing, the U.K. Championship at The Belfry, looks to be the best of the bunch. Five of the world’s top-50 players are in attendance at the four-time Ryder Cup venue in the English Midlands—Bernd Wiesberger, Lee Westwood, Danny Willett, Matt Wallace and Victor Perez—easily the most since the Old World circuit made its return from the COVID-19 shutdown.

So things are looking up all round, with Willett epitomising the air of positivity after enduring 11 days of quarantine and three (negative) tests for coronavirus. Despite an 11-tournament run on the PGA Tour that featured six missed cuts, only one top-10 finish and saw him drop from 31st to 42nd on the World Rankings—a season he cheerfully describes as “higgledey-piggledy”—the former Masters champion was all smiles during his pre-tournament press conference.

“I just didn’t quite have my best stuff going,” he explained. “It’s one of those ones where if you don’t play good golf you’re going to miss-cuts. The guys [on the PGA Tour] are great golfers and you’ve got to be on your game. I wasn’t. I stuck in one really nice finish in the middle of it all [T-4 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic], but I’ve never really played more than two or three events in a row. With the restart, I was trying to play catch-up because I wasn’t sure how the exemptions are going to work next year. Really, I was just trying to play a few instead of just staying at home.”

Still, the 32-year-old has much to look forward to in what is his first visit to The Belfry since a far-off day spent watching practice for the 2002 Ryder Cup (“I wasn’t that big, so I didn’t see a lot”). Having made it through the requisite period of quarantine, Willett has wife, Nicole, on the bag for the first time this week.

“We’re in our own little bubble so it should be good fun,” said the current BMW PGA champion, a father of two. “My wife and I haven’t had more than two hours alone in seven months. So we are using this week to have a bit of time together on our own. She has never caddied for me, and she’s a bit nervous. She doesn’t want to get anything wrong. Luckily we’ve got a nice draw with Bernd and Laney [Wiesberger’s caddie, Jamie Lane], who is a good pal of ours. So hopefully he’ll be raking bunkers for me and making sure she’s looked after.”

Willett was less concerned about his lack of experience on a course that was once a regular feature of life on the European Tour. Between 1978 and 2008, The Belfry hosted nine English Opens, four Benson & Hedges International Opens, one Hennessey Cognac Cup match between Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe and three British Masters.

Already, in fact, Willett’s mind is drifting forward to November and the prospect of a spectator-free Masters he describes as “strange.”

“I’ve played Augusta with nobody there in December last year and again in early February,” he said. “I’m not sure if many guys will have done that. It will be a few degrees colder and a little windier and obviously a different course to what we see in April. It will be interesting to see if they can get it fast enough and firm enough, weather-permitting. Plus, maybe more than any other golf tournament in the world, no fans at the Masters will make a hell of a difference. But you’ve got a world-class golf course and you’ll have a world-class champion. Hopefully everything can go well.”

This week too. For both Mr. and Mrs. Willett.

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