Daniel Brown is hoping to become the first player to successfully defend the BMW International Open title when he tees it up at Golfclub München Eichenried this week.
The 31-year-old carded a flawless final round of 66 to reach 22 under par and win by two shots in Munich last year, before going on to secure dual-membership with the PGA TOUR for 2026.
Related: Chacarra claims third title with five-shot win in Turin
Brown is making just his second regular DP World Tour start of the season, having missed six of his last eight cuts in the USA, but he does not feel his game is too far away and is relishing the chance to feature on the Race to Dubai again.
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The Englishman will be joined by other past champions Martin Kaymer, Pablo Larrazábal, Danny Willett, Fabrizio Zanotti, Thriston Lawrence and Ewen Ferguson in Germany.
They will face fierce competition from Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed, who will be keen to extend his advantage at the top of the Rankings. The 35-year-old enjoyed a sensational start to the season, winning his first Rolex Series event at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January, following it up with a second-place finish in Bahrain and victory at the Qatar Masters.
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Eugenio Chacarra currently leads the European Swing Rankings, and he is looking to create his own piece of history with a third consecutive DP World Tour victory following back-to-back wins in the Netherlands and Italy.
Since the inception of the DP World Tour in 1972, only two players have ever won three DP World Tour events on the bounce: Sir Nick Faldo and the late, great Seve Ballesteros in 1983 and 1986 respectively.
Matti Schmid leads the home charge this week and is enjoying a standout 2026 season, currently sitting in 80th position on the Official World Golf Ranking after finishing in a share of fourth at the PGA Championship earlier this year. The 2021 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Kaymer and become just the second player from Germany to win the BMW International Open.
Social Media sensation Brad Dalke, whose golf videos on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok have been viewed millions of times worldwide, will make his DP World Tour debut this week. In 2016, he reached the final of the U.S. Amateur Championship and earned a spot at the 2017 Masters. Also in 2017, he played a key role in helping the University of Oklahoma’s college team win the NCAA National Championship.
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The top five, not otherwise exempt, from the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World (within the top 20) come close of play on Sunday will earn a spot into The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale. Jayden Schaper, Andy Sullivan, Dan Bradbury, Oliver Lindell and Mikael Lindberg are currently in position to capitalise on this exemption.
Player Quotes
Daniel Brown: It’s nice but it’s obviously strange because I haven’t played a DP World Tour event since Mauritius so it’s nice to be back on the DP World Tour and nice to be back as a defending champion which I haven’t done before.
There’s not many times in your career where you can come back and defend. It’s not something you get to do very often. I’ve been in America and I don’t feel like I’ve played badly but results haven’t been what I’ve wanted them to be.
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It was nice coming down yesterday afternoon and seeing a few familiar faces. This Tour is a little bit more friendly. The Americans sort of keep to themselves and it’s nice. I like the social aspect, I’m quite a sociable person.
I think I drove it really well last year and I was missing it in the right areas all the time. Then obviously I putted nicely. Any week you win, your game is going to be pretty good all round so I would say there wasn’t really a weakness last year, but I drove it really well.
With what happened last year, losing a friend, he passed away a year ago on Sunday. So I’ve looked back at videos and had a few teary eyes every now and again.
But I suppose as a golfer, you’re so busy, it’s non-stop, you’re
