by Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard survived a nerve-wracking final round to claim his first DP World Tour title at the Betfred British Masters.
Norgaard shot a final round 72 at the Belfry to finish 16 under par, two shots ahead of South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence.
The 32-year-old saw his four-shot lead cut to just one after struggling at the turn on 37 and then seeing his playing partner Lawrence birdie the 10th and 11th.
However, Norgaard responded superbly with a birdie on the par-three 12th hole, where Lawrence missed the green and putted for par from within three feet.
The two-shot swing left Norgaard three shots ahead and another long-range birdie at the 14th gave him back an overnight lead, only for him to make a complete mess of the next one.
Just right of the green on the par five, Norgaard missed three consecutive chips – the last one moving only inches – before two-putting from the edge for a double-bogey seven.
That cut his lead in half and Lawrence looked set to get back to within one shot after leaving a long eagle putt on the 17th just two feet from the hole, but Norgaard bravely putted in a birdie putt from 10 feet to stay two shots ahead.
A par on the 18th made Norgaard the third Danish player to win the British Masters after Thomas Bjorn in 2005 and Thorbjorn Olesen in 2022.
His compatriot Rasmus Hojgaard cruised through the field with a closing 65 to finish third at 12 under, with Frenchman Jeong weon Ko a shot behind after a costly double bogey six on the 18th.
“You have no idea how much this means,” Norgaard said. “I’ve been dreaming about this since I was 10 years old.”
“I’ve had a pretty long career, I’ve progressed slowly and gotten a little bit better every year. I’ve never won on the Challenge Tour, nothing like it, so to win here for my first victory is very pleasing.
“I tried not to think about it too much, but this morning I almost threw up at breakfast, I was so nervous.
“After that putt on 14, I was in a really good position and I think I just got a little bit ahead. I hit an 8-iron towards the green (on 15) and I thought I was going to make birdie to get a five-shot lead and that’s what happened to me.
“I wasn’t that nervous, I’m just really bad at chipping sometimes, but luckily I made a few putts coming in and the way I bounced back makes me really proud.”
Asked about his victory in the first Ryder Cup qualifier, Norgaard added: “I didn’t even know that. It’s a good start.”
“It’s the ultimate goal for sure, but I haven’t stopped thinking about competing in the last race of the season this year. I had already planned to get into the top 50 (in the Race to Dubai) and I think this should help me achieve that.”
