Niklas Nørgaard held his nerve to clinch his maiden DP World Tour title by two shots at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.
Related: Niklas Norgaard open up healthy lead at British Masters
The Dane posted a closing level par round of 72 to clinch his maiden victory on 16 under par, two shots clear of Thriston Lawrence, who halved the overnight deficit but could not catch Nørgaard at The Belfry.
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The 32-year-old started the day four strokes clear of the South African but was forced to fight for his breakthrough victory on a dramatic final day in England.
He cancelled out a bogey at the second with a birdie at the very next hole, but three-putted the par four eighth as he made the turn at one over par but still in control at the top of the leaderboard.
Nørgaard birdied both of the back nine’s par threes to re-open a four-stroke advantage, but the charge towards his maiden title threatened to spiral away from him at the 15th.
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He missed the green with his second shot into the par five, before seeing his pitch from 23 yards come up short of the green. He then took another three attempts to reach the green with his ball buried in the thick greenside rough, before eventually going down for a double bogey seven.
However, he showed nerves of steel at the next hole, holing an eight-footer for par to steady the ship before going on to birdie the 17th and ensure he would take a two-stroke lead down the Brabazon’s iconic 18th hole.
As it transpired, the hole that has witnessed everything in the game etched another memorable moment into its storied tapestry, with Nørgaard’s par enough to see him become the third Danish winner of the Betfred British Masters, joining Thomas Bjørn and Thorbjørn Olesen on the list of champions.
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Victory for Nørgaard means he moves to sixth on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, in addition to the top of the Ryder Cup Points List, with the Betfred British Masters marking the start of the qualification process for next year’s biennial contest at Bethpage Black.
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South African Lawrence came up just short in his quest for a fifth DP World Tour title but moved up to second on the Race to Dubai with his second place finish. Another Dane, Rasmus Højgaard, posted an impressive seven under round of 65 to finish third on 12 under, one clear of Frenchman Jeong weon Ko who held on to fourth place despite a closing double bogey.
It was another strong showing by Sweden’s Jesper Svensson, who rounded out the top five on ten under par.
Player quotes
Niklas Nørgaard: It’s hard to put into words because it means so much, and as you can probably see in the post-round interview, I almost sobbed up.
I was trying not to think too much about it, but in the morning, this morning, I almost threw up at breakfast, I was just so nervous.
I’ve had such a slow career but always becoming a little bit better every year. And then I’ve not won on Challenge Tour and I’ve not won anything here, and then winning this tournament is quite, quite special.
I had to call my mental coach this morning because the thing is, when you have a four-shot lead, it feels like you have to protect something, and I didn’t want to do that.
I wanted to play for something, really and I would say the turning point was probably hole 11 where first I made that birdie. I was like, now I have to wake up and it’s game time. Then with this finish, it was special.
