Former van driver Dean claims fairy-tale win at British Masters

Winner Joe Dean poses with the trophy after day four of the Husqvarna British Masters at The Belfry Hotel & Resort, Sutton Coldfield. Picture:  Bradley Collyer/PA

England’s Joe Dean shot a bogey-free 63 to win the British Masters for a fairy-tale first victory on the DP World Tour.

The 32-year-old former supermarket delivery driver from Sheffield, whose only previous win as a professional came on the PGA EuroPro Tour in 2021, produced nine birdies to rise from his third-round position of 25th and triumph by three strokes at the Belfry.

Four players finished in a tie for second place, Australia’s Daniel Hillier, Danish pair Niklas Norgaard and Jacob Skov Olesen and Nacho Elvira of Spain.

England’s Marco Penge, Tom McKibbin of Northern Ireland and German Thomas Rosenmueller were a shot further back.

Dean told Sky Sports: “All those painful hours and all the work put in has finally led to something, so I’m happy.

"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, isn't it? 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.

"I think it's going to be a bit surreal. I don't think I'll take it in for quite a while to see my name next to some of those legends of the game. Yeah, just like I said, just overwhelmed at the minute."