Tom McKibbin’s chances of a second DP World Tour victory were hampered by a disastrous eighth hole in the final round of the Husqvarna British Masters and Joe Dean went on to win his maiden DP World Tour title on home soil as he made a remarkable 11 birdies in 24 holes on the final day.
Following a weather disrupted first two days at The Belfry Hotel & Resort, the field returned to complete round three at 7.00am Sunday morning with McKibbin firmly in the mix and Dean eight shots off the lead.
McKibbin played his final dozen holes of round three in level-par, then got to within one of the lead with a birdie on the fourth as blustery conditions were making it tough for all players on the course.
But the Holywood man left himself with a mountain to climb after making a triple bogey-seven on the eighth hole. After finding the water with his second shot having missed right off the tee, he was unable to find the putting surface with his fourth, chipped to 10 feet, then missed the double bogey putt, and it was a blow he never recovered from.
Two birdies came on the back nine, but they were preceded by bogeys on each occasion, but for the second time this week, he stuffed an approach to short range on the par-5 17th and made eagle which was enough to see him climb back inside the top 10 and eventually take a share of sixth place, finishing four behind Dean.
McKibbin climbs 31 places to 92nd in the Race to Dubai, and has further chances to move closer to the top 70 ranking needed to make the DP World Tour playoffs with upcoming starts at the Amgen Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
But while the rest of the field battled on a blustery day, Dean made nine birdies in a final-round 63 which was the lowest round of the week to set the target at 14-under.
With the final group and closest challenger Marco Penge on the 12th two shots back, the man from Sheffield and wife and caddie Emily faced a long wait to see if he would lift the trophy.
But big-hitting Penge could not take advantage of the par-five 15th and 17th, leaving Dean as the champion by three shots.
Spaniard Nacho Elvira, Kiwi Daniel Hillier and Danish pair Niklas Nørgaard and Jacob Skov Olsen finished in a tie for second on 11 under, one ahead of Penge, McKibbin and German Thomas Rosenmueller.
Dean was on the EuroPro Tour as recently as 2022 and did not play any ranking golf at all in 2023, the same year he earned his DP World Tour card through Qualifying School.
But he did not tee it up until the following February due to a lack of funds and continued working as a supermarket delivery driver, while also seeking the help of a hypnotist to get him through his issues with international travel.
A runner-up finish in just his second start in his rookie season in Kenya earned him a cheque for just under 200,000 euros and he went on to make the season-ending DP World Tour Championship thanks to another runner-up finish at the KLM Open.
He also finished second at last year’s Nexo Championship, but he is now the winner of one of the most storied titles on the DP World Tour.
Dean took advantage of the par-five 15th and 17th in his six holes after the resumption but still found himself seven shots behind 54-hole leader Hillier.
In round four he played excellent iron shots on the second and fourth, took advantage of the third and holed a long putt on the sixth to turn in 32.
The 32-year-old then added another gain after laying up at the driveable par-four tenth and hit excellent irons into the 13th and 14th to get to 12 under.
He was briefly in a share of a lead when Penge found water on the eighth but an approach to eight feet at the next put Penge ahead at the turn.
A two-putt gain on the 17th then put Dean back in a share of the lead and just after he hit an approach to ten feet at the last, Penge bogeyed the 11th.
That left Emily to give a beaming smile and Dean a fist bump as he rolled in the putt on the 18th to become the first English winner of this event since 2021.
Olesen and Nørgaard had both shared the lead early in the day as round three was completed and Olesen briefly held the solo lead after a hat-trick of birdies from the second in round four, but neither could keep pace with Dean in rounds of 71.
Hillier – the 2023 champion – could not recover from a front nine of 39 as he carded a 73, while Elvira was never truly in contention on Sunday despite a 69.
McKibbin and Penge both posted 72s, while Rosenmueller signed for a 68 to sit a shot ahead of American Davis Bryant, Kiwi Kazuma Kobori, Swede Joakim Lagergren, Dane and 2022 champion Thorbjørn Olesen, Portuguese Daniel Rodrigues and Paraguayan Fabrizio Zanotti.
“All those painful hours and all the work I put in this; it’s finally led to something,” a thrilled Dean said afterwards. “Today was one of the rare days where everything just felt right and the putts were dropping. Almost like I couldn’t do anything wrong, isn’t it? We saw a glimpse of that over the past two, three months, but it kind of faded by back nine or it faded after a few holes. To finally get through the entire round and feel good about it is really nice.
“I think it’s going to be a bit surreal. I don’t think I’ll take it in for quite a while to see my name next to some of those legends of the game. Yeah, just like I said, just overwhelmed at the minute.”
Leave a comment