Joe Dean becomes latest home hero on DP World Tour after Belfry brilliance
Englishman who worked as supermarket delivery driver to fund his career lands maiden win on home soil
Home heroes are becoming a thing on the DP World Tour. After Jeff Wither won in Denmark and Scott Jamieson triumphed on Scottish soil, Joe Dean made it three in a row by triumphing in England. On the back of those victories for Winther and Jamieson in the Danish Golf Championship and Nexo Championship respectively, Dean’s success came in the Husqvarna British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry.
At the halfway point in the final round, it looked as though Marco Penge might be the man to extend that nice run of champions on the circuit as the popular Englishman held a one-shot lead as he looked to get off to a flying start in the year-long qualifying campaign for next year’s Ryder Cup in Ireland.
Having hit the green at the iconic tenth hole at the Sutton Coldfield venue on Friday and making an eagle there, it didn’t look to be an easy decision at all for Penge to lay up on this occasion even though it might have been understandable. Failing to make even a birdie, however, probably stung, as did a bogey at the next.
All of a sudden, it turned flat for the three-time tour winner as he found himself having to try and make up a two-shot deficit over the closing seven holes after Dean, who worked as a supermarket deliver driver to fund his career, had set the clubhouse target following a stunning bogey-free nine-under-par 63 to finish on 14 under.
Due to players going out in the same groups in the final two rounds following weather delays earlier in the week, the 32-year-old was left with a nervous wait in the clubhouse before knowing that he’d landed his maiden win, which was made even more special by having his new wife, Emily, on the bag.
The couple got married shortly after the Sheffield man qualified for The Open at Royal Birkdale by winning a Last Chance Qualifier. “The last couple of days have been a real struggle and it’s not fun for either of us,” admitted the new champion, who became the 14th English winner of this great event and the first since Richard Bland did the trick at the same venue in 2012. “Today has made up for a lot of bad days and a lot of stress and anxiety.”
The three-shot success - 2023 winner Daniel Hillier shared second spot with four others as Penge slipped to joint-sixth after a disappointing closing 72 - was worth around £430,000 and catapulted Dean from 74th to 12th in the Race Dubai. “That should be enough now to seal my card for next year,” he admitted in what was a bit of an understatement. “Yeah, really over the moon for both of us - and I’m happy that she’s happy (smiling).”
Topsy-turvy final round at The Belfry
In a topsy-turvy final round, Penge found water at both the third and eighth, where his bold strategy came unstuck as he went from the green from a fairway bunker before almost saving par with a lovely chip. That came after he was close to holing out from 128 yards at the fifth while birdies also went down on his card at the first, second and seventh.
Playing eight groups ahead after players had gone out in the same pairings from the third round, Dean made his move with gains at the second, third and fourth, where he holed a long one, to be out in 32 before further birdies followed at the 13th and 14th as he kept his foot to the floor.
Disappointed to see a birdie putt lip out at the par-5 15th, the 32-year-old moved to eight under for the round after being on in two at the long 17th, where he wasn’t far away with an eagle attempt. Under the circumstances, he then hit a majestic approach to around ten feet at the iconic 18th and rolled it in for a sensational nine-under score, tying the course record, held jointly by Penge, though doing so admittedly with preferred lies in operation.
“Yeah, I can’t say I felt it come off the putter face,” admitted Dean of his sign-off shot. “It was an amazing day. Obviously it’s not been the most conventional last couple of days (due to some players having to complete 54 holes due to delays earlier in the week). But to finish it off like that was unbelievable.”
The incredible effort was chiselled out in a testing wind on the Brabazon Course. “By holing a lot of putts,” he added, smiling, in reply to being asked how he’d managed it. “The last two rounds have been a real struggle with the putter - it’s been so cold. But I then went out there today and didn’t miss much.
“My goal today was to shoot as low as I could under par. I’ll be honest, winning wasn’t anywhere in my thoughts. I was just thinking about trying to get in the top 15 to get some points to keep me safe for next year and now that’s ticked off.”
Earlier, Penge restarted his uncompleted third round by rolling in a 23-foot birdie putt at the par-3 sixth with his first shot of the day only to then run up a triple-bogey 7 at the next hole after finding water off the tee and duly compounding that error by hitting a wild third shot.
He also bogeyed the ninth before moving back in the right direction again with birdies at the 13th, 15th and 16th before signing off with a bogey to find himself two behind Hillier, who had a similar back nine, as they set out again for the closing circuit after a break of only 30 or so minutes.
It had been a week of disruption for all the players due to weather delays, but, in fairness, the ones still standing on Sunday had rolled up their sleeves and got on with it. In doing so, they helped play their part in the fans heading home happy and, boy, was it a day to cherish for Dean and his supporters.
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