Oliver Wilson and Gunner Wiebe finished tied-second, with the pair joining Daniel Hillier in qualifying for The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool via the Open Qualifying Series; Justin Rose finished in share of fourth
Sunday 2 July 2023 18:42, UK
Daniel Hillier secured his maiden DP World Tour title with an impressive two-stroke victory at the Betfred British Masters.
The New Zealander overturned a three-stroke deficit during a thrilling final day at The Belfry, with two eagles and a birdie over his final four holes helping him post a six-under 66 and set the winning total at 10 under.
Hillier finished two strokes clear of overnight co-leader Oliver Wilson and American Gunner Wiebe, who matched his final-round 66, with all three players earning spots for The Open later this month via the Open Qualifying Series.
Former world No 1 Justin Rose finished three strokes back in tied-fourth with Calum Hill and Ewen Ferguson, while Andy Sullivan faded on the final day with a three-over 75.
Hillier opened with back-to-back pars before making a two-putt birdie at the par-five third, with the world No 265 then holing from 15 feet to scramble a bogey at the sixth after finding water with his approach.
A five-foot birdie at the ninth saw Hillier reach the turn under par for the day, with a run of pars ended by a spectacular 40-foot eagle at the par-five 15th.
Hillier fired a stunning approach into the next to set up a close-range birdie and made a six-foot eagle at the par-five 17th to extend his advantage, with an eight-foot par at the last - after nearly hitting the trophy with his second shot - completing a memorable victory.
"I'm gobsmacked," Hillier said. "I think it's going to take me a while to process to be honest. Early on in the day I was not feeling it at all. I was a little bit uncomfortable with the driver, didn't have many chances but obviously knew there were some chances coming in.
"I didn't think I would take them that well, but obviously pretty ecstatic. I'm not going to lie, I was definitely looking at the leaderboard and seeing my name up there and thinking about what it would be like to finish it off but it's all a bit of a blur really."
Wilson birdied two of his last four holes to salvage a one-under 71 and finish on eight under with Wiebe, who recovered from a triple-bogey at the par-four eighth to make five birdies in a six-hole stretch from the 10th.
Hill and Ferguson both bogeyed their final hole to drop three behind alongside Rose, who signed off with a blemish-free 69, with just one player in the final six groups posting an under-par round on the final day.
"This week has been a good test of everyone's game I think and it's a good sort of benchmark on where you're at," Rose said. "So quite happy with the test and the way I passed that test and can hopefully build on that the next few weeks."
Niklas Norgaard dropped four shots in a four-hole stretch around the turn and posted a final-round 73, while England's Dan Bradbury and Ryder Cup hopeful Yannik Paul were among seven played in tied-eighth on five under.
The DP World Tour heads to Denmark next for the Made In Himmerland, with coverage live on Thursday from midday on Sky Sports Golf.
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