Joe Dean won his maiden DP World Tour title on home soil as he made 11 birdies in 24 holes on the final day of the Husqvarna British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.
Following a weather disrupted first two days at The Belfry Hotel & Resort, Sheffield-born Joe returned to complete round three at 7am on Sunday morning. He began the day eight shots off the lead, and picked up two and reduced the gap to seven heading into the final round.
While the rest of the field battled on a blustery day, Joe made nine more birdies in a round of 63 – the lowest score of the week – to set the target at 14 under-par.
With the final group and Joe’s closest challenger, Marco Penge, on the 12th hole and two shots back, the Yorkshireman – and his wife and caddie Emily – faced a long wait to see if he would lift the trophy.
Big-hitting Marco could not take advantage of the par five 15th and 17th holes as Joe was crowned champion with a three-shot winning margin – finishing on 14 under-par with rounds of 67, 73, 71 and 63.
“All those painful hours and all the work, it’s finally led to something,” said Joe. “It was a rare day when everything felt right, the putts were dropping, and I couldn’t do anything wrong. We saw a glimpse of that over the past two or three months, but it kind of faded after a few holes. To finally get through the entire round and feel good about it is really nice.”
Joe won the Last Chance Qualifier on the Monday of The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale earlier this summer and married Emily shortly after this year’s final major.
“I can’t thank her enough,” he added. “It was bad enough off the course, with the lows and stuff like that, but now it’s on the course too. I hope I made her proud today.”
Spaniard Nacho Elvira, Kiwi Daniel Hillier and Danish pair Niklas Nørgaard and Jacob Skov Olsen finished in a tie for second place on 11 under-under – one ahead of Marco, Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin, and Germany’s Thomas Rosenmueller.
Joe was playing 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.
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, 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.
Joe took advantage of the par five 15th and 17th holes in his six holes after the resumption, but still found himself seven shots behind 54-hole leader Daniel.
In round four, he played excellent iron shots on the second and fourth holes, took advantage of the third, and holed a long putt on the sixth to turn in 32.
The 32-year-old then added another birdie after laying up at the driveable par four 10th, and hit excellent irons into the 13th and 14th holes to get to 12 under-par.
He was briefly in a share of a lead when Marco found water on the eighth, but an approach to 8ft at the next put Marco ahead at the turn.
A two-putt birdie on the 17th then put Joe back in a share of the lead and just after he hit an approach to 10ft at the last, Marco bogeyed the 11th.
That left Emily to give a beaming smile and Joe a fist bump as he rolled in the putt on the 18th – a putt which ultimately saw him become the first English winner of this event since 2021.
Skov and Niklas had both shared the lead early in the day as round three was completed, and Skov briefly held the solo lead after a hat-trick of birdies from the second in round four, but neither could keep pace with Joe as they shot rounds of 71.
Daniel – the 2023 champion – could not recover from a front nine of 39 as he carded a 73, while Nacho was never truly in contention on Sunday despite shooting a round of 69. Tom joined Marco in posting a final round 72, while Thomas signed for a 68.
For the full results click here.
