Betfred British Masters
Tournament information
LocationWishaw, Warwickshire, England
Established1946
Course(s)The Belfry
(Brabazon Course)
Par72
Length7,328 yards (6,701 m)
Tour(s)European Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fundUS$3,500,000
Month playedJune/July
Tournament record score
Aggregate260 Paul Dunne (2017)
To par−22 Peter Baker (1993)
Current champion
New Zealand Daniel Hillier
Location map
The Belfry is located in England
The Belfry
The Belfry
Location in England
The Belfry is located in Warwickshire
The Belfry
The Belfry
Location in Warwickshire

The Betfred British Masters is a professional golf tournament. It was founded in 1946 as the Dunlop Masters and was held every year up to 2008, except for 1984. Dunlop's sponsorship ended in 1982, and the name sponsor changed frequently thereafter, with the words "British Masters" usually also in the tournament's official name. The tournament was not held from 2009 to 2014 but returned to the schedule in 2015.

History

The Dunlop Masters was first held in 1946 at Stoneham Golf Club in Southampton, and was a continuation of the Dunlop-Metropolitan Tournament which had been held before World War II. Like the Dunlop-Metropolitan, the Dunlop Masters was a 72-hole end-of-season event with a restricted field. The Dunlop-Metropolitan had been first played in 1934, the same year as The Masters. The event was sponsored by Dunlop from 1946 to 1982, during which time it continued to have a small field with no 36-hole cut. There were 50 competitors in the final Dunlop-sponsored event in 1982.[1]

During the 1980s the British Masters was one of the most lucrative events on the European Tour with a prize fund that was as high as third among the tournaments on the schedule, but its status, or at least its relative level of prize money, has declined considerably in recent years.

The tournament has been played at many different venues; twice in the "Dunlop Masters" era it was held in the Republic of Ireland. When the Quinn Group took over as sponsors in 2006, the event was moved again, this time to the Group owned Belfry.

The deal with the Quinn Group ended in 2008, and when attempts to find another sponsor were unsuccessful, the British Masters was removed from the European Tour schedule for 2009.[2]

Tournament hosts

The event returned in 2015 with a leading British golfer choosing the golf course and hosting the event. Since then the editions have been hosted by:

Notable events

The 1967 event provided British television with its first live hole in one, as Tony Jacklin aced the 16th hole at Royal St George's.[9]

In the 2021 event, Richard Bland, at age 48, claimed his first European Tour victory in his 478th start on the tour.[10]

Winners

Year Winner Score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up Venue Ref.
Betfred British Masters
2023 New Zealand Daniel Hillier 278 −10 2 strokes United States Gunner Wiebe
England Oliver Wilson		 The Belfry
2022 Denmark Thorbjørn Olesen 278 −10 1 stroke Sweden Sebastian Söderberg The Belfry
2021 England Richard Bland 275 −13 Playoff Italy Guido Migliozzi The Belfry
2020 Italy Renato Paratore 266 −18 3 strokes Denmark Rasmus Højgaard Close House
2019 Sweden Marcus Kinhult 272 −16 1 stroke Scotland Robert MacIntyre
England Eddie Pepperell
England Matt Wallace		 Hillside
Sky Sports British Masters
2018 England Eddie Pepperell 279 −9 2 strokes Sweden Alexander Björk Walton Heath
British Masters
2017 Republic of Ireland Paul Dunne 260 −20 3 strokes Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy Close House
2016 Sweden Alex Norén 266 −18 2 strokes Austria Bernd Wiesberger The Grove
2015 England Matt Fitzpatrick 269 −15 2 strokes Denmark Søren Kjeldsen
Republic of Ireland Shane Lowry
Paraguay Fabrizio Zanotti		 Woburn
2010–2014: No tournament
2009 Cancelled due to lack of sponsorship
Quinn Insurance British Masters
2008 Spain Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño 276 −12 Playoff England Lee Westwood The Belfry [11]
Quinn Direct British Masters
2007 England Lee Westwood 273 −15 5 strokes England Ian Poulter The Belfry [12]
2006 Sweden Johan Edfors 277 −11 1 stroke England Gary Emerson
Scotland Stephen Gallacher
Sweden Jarmo Sandelin		 The Belfry [13]
Daily Telegraph Dunlop Masters
2005 Denmark Thomas Bjørn 282 −6 Playoff England Brian Davis
England David Howell		 Forest of Arden [14]
Daily Telegraph Damovo British Masters
2004 England Barry Lane 272 −16 3 strokes Argentina Ángel Cabrera
Argentina Eduardo Romero		 Forest of Arden [15]
2003 England Greg Owen 274 −14 3 strokes France Christian Cévaër
England Ian Poulter		 Forest of Arden [16]
Victor Chandler British Masters
2002 England Justin Rose 269 −19 1 stroke England Ian Poulter Woburn [17]
2001 France Thomas Levet 274 −14 Playoff Sweden Mathias Grönberg
England David Howell
Sweden Robert Karlsson		 Woburn [18]
2000 Scotland Gary Orr 267 −21 2 strokes Sweden Per-Ulrik Johansson Woburn [19]
1999 United States Bob May 269 −19 1 stroke Scotland Colin Montgomerie Woburn [20]
One 2 One British Masters
1998 Scotland Colin Montgomerie 281 −7 1 stroke Sweden Pierre Fulke
Argentina Eduardo Romero		 Forest of Arden [21]
1997 New Zealand Greg Turner 275 −13 1 stroke Scotland Colin Montgomerie Forest of Arden [22]
1996 Australia Robert Allenby 284 −4 Playoff Spain Miguel Ángel Martín Collingtree Park [23]
Collingtree British Masters
1995 Scotland Sam Torrance 270 −18 1 stroke New Zealand Michael Campbell Collingtree Park
Dunhill British Masters
1994 Wales Ian Woosnam (2) 271 −17 4 strokes Spain Seve Ballesteros Woburn
1993 England Peter Baker 266 −22 7 strokes England Carl Mason Woburn [24]
1992 Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Jnr 270 −18 Playoff Zimbabwe Tony Johnstone Woburn [25]
1991 Spain Seve Ballesteros (2) 275 −13 3 strokes Republic of Ireland Eamonn Darcy
England David Gilford
Zimbabwe Tony Johnstone
Scotland Sam Torrance
England Keith Waters		 Woburn
1990 England Mark James 270 −18 2 strokes Northern Ireland David Feherty Woburn
1989 England Nick Faldo 267 −21 4 strokes Northern Ireland Ronan Rafferty Woburn
1988 Scotland Sandy Lyle 273 −15 2 strokes England Nick Faldo
Zimbabwe Mark McNulty		 Woburn
1987 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty 274 −14 1 stroke Wales Ian Woosnam Woburn [26]
1986 Spain Seve Ballesteros 275 −13 2 strokes Scotland Gordon Brand Jnr Woburn [27]
1985 United States Lee Trevino 278 −10 3 strokes Australia Rodger Davis Woburn
Silk Cut Masters
1984: No tournament
1983 Wales Ian Woosnam 269 −15 3 strokes Scotland Bernard Gallacher St. Pierre
Dunlop Masters
1982 Australia Greg Norman (2) 267 −17 8 strokes West Germany Bernhard Langer St. Pierre
1981 Australia Greg Norman 273 −15 4 strokes Australia Graham Marsh Woburn
1980 West Germany Bernhard Langer 270 −14 5 strokes Scotland Brian Barnes St. Pierre
1979 Australia Graham Marsh 283 −5 1 stroke Japan Isao Aoki
England Neil Coles		 Woburn
1978 England Tommy Horton 279 −5 1 stroke South Africa Dale Hayes
Australia Graham Marsh
England Brian Waites		 St. Pierre
1977 England Guy Hunt 291 +7 Playoff Scotland Brian Barnes Lindrick [28]
1976 Italy Baldovino Dassù 271 −13 1 stroke United States Hubert Green St. Pierre
1975 Scotland Bernard Gallacher (2) 289 +5 2 strokes South Africa Dale Hayes Ganton
1974 Scotland Bernard Gallacher 282 −2 Playoff South Africa Gary Player St. Pierre [29]
1973 England Tony Jacklin (2) 272 −12 7 strokes New Zealand Bob Charles St. Pierre [30]
1972 New Zealand Bob Charles 277 −11 2 strokes England Tony Jacklin Northumberland
1971 England Maurice Bembridge 273 −11 2 strokes England Peter Oosterhuis St. Pierre [31]
1970 Wales Brian Huggett 293 +9 5 strokes Australia David Graham Royal Lytham & St Annes [32]
1969 South Africa Cobie Legrange (2) 281 3 strokes England Peter Butler Little Aston [33]
1968 Australia Peter Thomson (2) 274 5 strokes Wales Dave Thomas Sunningdale [34]
1967 England Tony Jacklin 274 3 strokes England Neil Coles Royal St George's [35][36]
1966 England Neil Coles 278 1 stroke Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr
Australia Peter Thomson		 Lindrick [37]
1965 England Bernard Hunt (2) 283 1 stroke Australia Peter Thomson Portmarnock [38]
1964 South Africa Cobie Legrange 288 1 stroke England Max Faulkner
England Ralph Moffitt		 Royal Birkdale [39][40]
1963 England Bernard Hunt 282 Playoff England Ralph Moffitt Little Aston [41]
1962 Wales Dai Rees 278 2 strokes England Ralph Moffitt
Australia Peter Thomson		 Wentworth [42]
1961 Australia Peter Thomson 284 8 strokes Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr Royal Porthcawl [43]
1960 England Jimmy Hitchcock 275 2 strokes England Max Faulkner
England John Jacobs
South Africa Bobby Locke		 Sunningdale [44]
1959 Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr (2) 276 4 strokes Republic of Ireland Joe Carr (a)
Northern Ireland Norman Drew		 Portmarnock [45]
1958 England Harry Weetman (2) 276 4 strokes South Africa Bobby Locke Little Aston [46]
1957 Scotland Eric Brown 275 3 strokes England Peter Alliss Notts [47]
1956 Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr 277 1 stroke Scotland Eric Brown Prestwick [48]
1955 Republic of Ireland Harry Bradshaw (2) 277 4 strokes England Henry Cotton Little Aston [49]
1954 South Africa Bobby Locke (2) 291 3 strokes Republic of Ireland Harry Bradshaw Prince's [50]
1953 Republic of Ireland Harry Bradshaw 272 3 strokes England Max Faulkner Sunningdale [51]
1952 England Harry Weetman 281 4 strokes England Arthur Lees Mere [52]
1951 England Max Faulkner 281 4 strokes England Reg Horne Wentworth [53]
1950 Wales Dai Rees 281 4 strokes England Charlie Ward Royal Liverpool [54]
1949 England Charlie Ward 290 Playoff England John Burton St Andrews [55][56]
1948 Australia Norman Von Nida 272 2 strokes Northern Ireland Fred Daly Sunningdale [57]
1947 England Arthur Lees 283 Playoff Australia Norman Von Nida Little Aston [58][59]
1946 Scotland Jimmy Adams
South Africa Bobby Locke		 286 Title shared Stoneham [9][60]

Multiple winners

References

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