Dan Brown secured an emotional two-shot victory to lift the BMW International Open trophy at Golfclub München Eichenried.
Yorkshireman Dan, who is attached to Romanby Golf & Country Club, posted a six under-par round of 66 to reach 22 under-par (70-65-65-66) and fend off playing partner Jordan Smith, who collected his second runner-up finish in the BMW International Open.
The 30-year-old burst into tears after securing his second DP World Tour title and revealed he had been playing in memory of a close friend, who passed away last week.
“The first win didn’t really sink in, but that one hit me straight away,” said Dan. “I lost a friend at home last weekend. I don’t know what to say really, but that was for him. The last two days I’ve been thinking about him to try and take my mind off it, obviously try not to get too emotional in the process.
“I’m not too sure what happened today, it was an out-of-body experience. Obviously, nerves and then thinking about the importance of winning a golf tournament. It sort of played it down with what happened, I suppose he was there with me and it made it a lot easier.
“I was thinking about it when I was walking to the 15th tee, not sure if I was two or three in front, that’s when it started creeping in, the nerves and legs getting a bit heavy.
“I was thinking ‘man up and hit a shot which could win you the tournament’, which I did.”
Dan, who carded only three bogeys all week, set the tone from the off with back-to-back birdies to start his round. Another pair arrived at the fifth and sixth as he kept his nose in front, despite Jordan closing the gap as he made the turn at five under-par.
The challenger made three bogeys in five holes from the 10th while Dan, the 2023 ISPS HANDA World Invitational winner, kept calm and continued to go about his business, birdieing the 12th and safely knocking in the pars as he went down the stretch.
Dan had a two-stroke lead standing on the 18th tee and after finding the fairway with his tee shot, many at Golfclub München Eichenried were expecting him to lay-up on the par five closing hole. However, Dan took out three-wood and hit a sublime shot to 20ft.
After seeing Jordan, who also found the green in two, knock his eagle attempt by, Dan knew he had breathing room and hit his first putt to 3ft, before converting his birdie and securing an emotional victory.
His win sees him climb 35 places to 15th on the Race to Dubai Rankings and 99 spots to fifth on the final European Swing Rankings, which were won by Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan after his tie for fourth place in Munich.
“It was a bit of a struggle in the middle,” added Dan. “I had a good start and obviously finished pretty well, so yeah, it’s a relief. Jordan didn’t let up all day. He was tough to keep at bay, which makes the win feel that little bit sweeter. After starting birdie-birdie, I thought I might have created a bit of breathing room, but he just kept rolling putts in. He was on my heels all day. In a way, that probably pushed me on, maybe if he had dropped off, I might have done the same.
“Honestly, I never thought I’d be a DP World Tour player, never thought I’d be a DP World Tour winner, and certainly not a two-time winner. I’m just very grateful.
“It’s been a tough stretch recently. I’ve had some time off with a knee issue, and one of our best mates passed away last weekend, which has been incredibly hard. This has been the best of a really bad situation.
“I’ll need to let this sink in a bit first, but I definitely want to keep pushing on.”
Kiwi Kazuma Kobori secured his best DP World Tour finish after a final round 63 saw him finish third on 18 under-par, two clear of Kristoffer, American Davis Bryant and Dutchman Joost Luiten in a tie for fourth.
There was also reason to celebrate for Kristoffer, England’s John Parry, China’s Haotong Li, New Zealander Daniel Hillier and South Africa’s Shaun Norris, who all secured their spots in the final men’s major championship of the year, The 153rd Open, via the Race to Dubai Rankings.
BMW Group’s Eagles for Education initiative raised a total of €73,000 across the week, which will be donated to former German international footballer Philipp Lahm’s Foundation.
