Yorkshireman Joe Dean won his maiden DP World Tour title on home soil as he made a remarkable 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, Dean returned to complete round three at 7am on Sunday morning eight shots off the lead, picking up two to reduce the gap to seven heading into the final round.
And while the rest of the field battled on a blustery day, Dean made nine more birdies in a 63 which was the lowest round of the week to set the target at 14 under.
With the final group and closest challenger Marco Penge on the 12th two shots back, the man from Sheffield and wife and caddie Emily faced a long wait to see if he would lift the trophy.
But big-hitting Penge could not take advantage of the par-five 15th and 17th, leaving Dean as the champion by three shots.
Nacho Elvira, Daniel Hillier and Niklas Nørgaard and Jacob Skov Olsen finished in a tie for second on 11 under, one ahead of Penge, Tom McKibbin and Thomas Rosenmueller.
FROM DELIVERY DRIVER TO DP WORLD TOUR WINNER
Dean, 32, was 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.
But 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.
SEVEN-SHOT SWING
Dean took advantage of the par-five 15th and 17th in his six holes after the resumption but still found himself seven shots behind 54-hole leader Hillier. In round four he played excellent iron shots on the second and fourth, took advantage of the third and holed a long putt on the sixth to turn in 32.
The 32-year-old then added another gain after laying up at the driveable par-four tenth and hit excellent irons into the 13th and 14th to get to 12 under. He was briefly in a share of a lead when Penge found water on the eighth but an approach to eight feet at the next put Penge ahead at the turn.
A two-putt gain on the 17th then put Dean back in a share of the lead and just after he hit an approach to ten feet at the last, Penge bogeyed the 11th.
That left wife Emily to give a beaming smile and Dean a fist bump as he rolled in the putt on the 18th to become the first English winner of this event since 2021.
Olesen and Nørgaard had both shared the lead early in the day as round three was completed and Olesen briefly held the solo lead after a hat-trick of birdies from the second in round four, but neither could keep pace with Dean in rounds of 71.
Dean said: “All those painful hours and all the work I have put in has finally led to something! I can’t thank Emily enough for what she has to put up with me. It was bad enough off the course and the lows and stuff like that, but now on the course and off the course. I hope I made her proud.
“Today was one of the rare days where everything just felt right and the putts were dropping. Almost like I couldn’t do anything wrong. We saw a glimpse of that over the past two, three months, but it kind of faded by back nine or it faded after a few holes. To finally get through the entire round and feel good about it is really nice.
He added: “I think it’ll take quite a while for it to sink in. To see my name on the trophy next to some of the legends of the game is quite overwhelming.”
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