British Masters final leaderboard
-16 N Norgaard (Den); -14 T Lawrence (SA); -12 R Hojgaard (Den); -11 K Jeong-weon (Fra); -10 J Svensson (Swe)
Selected others: -8 M Wallace (Eng); -7 A Wilson (Eng); -6 A Fitzpatrick (Eng), H Hall (Eng), J Smith (Eng); -4 T Hatton
Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard finished two shots clear on 16 under overall to win the British Masters at The Belfry.
The 32-year-old carded a level-par round of 72 to secure his first DP World Tour title, with South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence two strokes adrift in second.
Norgaard’s compatriot Rasmus Hojgaard charged up the leaderboard with a seven-under-par 65 to take third overall on 12 under.
Matt Wallace was the highest-placed home golfer in eighth, four shots further back, while Tyrrell Hatton signed for a disappointing two-over 74 to end in a tie for 18th on four under.
“You have no idea how much it means,” Norgaard said. “I’ve been dreaming of this since I was 10 years old.
“I’ve had kind of a long career, just moving slowly ahead and every year getting a little bit better. I’ve never won on the Challenge Tour, nothing like that, so to win here for a first win I feel very good.
“I was trying not to think about it too much but this morning I almost threw up at breakfast, I was just so nervous.”
Norgaard becomes the third Dane to win the British Masters after Thomas Bjorn in 2005 and Thorbjorn Olesen in 2022.
Asked about winning the first Ryder Cup qualifying event, Norgaard added: “I didn’t even know. That’s a good start.
“It’s the ultimate goal for sure, but I’ve just been thinking so much about getting into the final event of the season this year. Getting into the top 50 [on the Race to Dubai] has been on my radar so I think this should secure it now.”
zdsgk3