Oleson wins Betfred British Masters in thrilling grandstand finish

Thorbjorn Oleson (Den) began the day with a three-shot lead at The Belfry but trailed by two with two holes to play, before he followed a 30 foot eagle at the par five 17th with a 36 footer for birdie at the 18th to celebrate a memorable victory in the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett and deny Sebastian Soderberg (Swe), who had earlier set the clubhouse target at nine under.

Olesen, 32 years old, began his round with a bogey after an errant tee shot, and despite a birdie at the par five third saw him return to his overnight mark of 11 under, he hit several hooks as he made further bogeys at the ninth and tenth to turn in a three over 38.

And after he was caught by the chasing pack early into the back nine, back to back bogeys at the 14th and 15th appeared to drop him out of contention as Soderberg made four birdies in a six hole stretch on the back nine to card a 68.

Snatched victory

But an inspired Olesen repeated his heroics on Saturday over the closing two holes once again to snatch victory in front of a sold-out crowd at the Brabazon Course.

Richie Ramsay earlier squandered a one-shot lead with a double bogey at the 18th to finish third on eight under, alongside fellow Scot Connor Syme and South Africa’s Justin Walters, with Challenge Tour Graduates Chase Hanna (US) and Hurly Long (Ger) a further shot back in a share of fifth.

Oleson, with his sixth career victory on the DP World Tour, moves up 69 spots on the 2021 – 2022 DP World Rankings upto ninth place.

Another bonus for those doing well this week is that the top 10 DP World Tour Rankings points earners (not otherwise exempt) from the four below upcoming events will earn a place at the 2022 US Open to be held at The Country Club, Brookline, MA, US, Thursday June 16th – Sunday June 19th.

This week’s Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett, England,

May 12th – 15th, Soudal Open, Belgium,

May 26th – 29th, Dutch Open, Netherlands, and,

June 2nd - 5th, Porsche European Open.