Going into day four at The Belfry, there was six leaders all tied on -7. Guido Migliozzi and Joost Luiten couldn’t improve their scores on Saturday and were joined by three Englishmen in Andy Sullivan, Oliver Wilson and James Morrison as well as Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard on -7.
Catching the early headlines was America’s Gunner Wiebe, who’s only made one cut in the DP World Tour so far in 2023. His early round of -6, including a triple bogey on the eighth, was a joy to behold, and he finished his round as clubhouse leader on -8. He reflected after his round on his career, discussing his time as an Uber driver after a career-threatening injury but his second place finish is a success story in itself, and will hopefully give him the confidence to perform throughout the rest of the season.
Tournament winner Daniel Hillier was going into the back nine thinking he was having an average round. A simple -1 front nine would be a great foundation to get in and amongst the leaders, however his fortunes took a turn for the better on the 15th. An eagle-birdie-eagle on 15, 16 and 17 saw him take five shots off his scorecard and move into a standalone lead at -10. A tremendous par to finish the difficult 18th saw big fist pumps from the future Kiwi star.
Looking elsewhere on the day, Justin Rose shot a bogeyless 69 to cement his space in T3. The 42-year-old 11-time European Tour champion was the first round leader on Thursday but a difficult Friday-Saturday saw his score stagnate and was only recovered by today’s three under par finish. Alongside him in T3 was the two Scots, Ewan Ferguson and Calum Hill, hitting a 68 and 69 respectively on the final day.
Pre-tournament favourite Min Woo Lee didn’t do too much to move him up in the Race to Dubai order of merit. The 24-year-old Aussie had five birdies and three bogeys throughout the last day of action, continuing his inconsistent week. No doubt he’ll be preparing for The Open heading to Royal Liverpool in a few weeks time, aiming for another top ten finish like at the US Open last month.
The pressure of winning the British Masters proved too much for a few of the overnight leaders. Niklas Norgaard was going well until the eighth hole, when his decline began. Bogey-Double Bogey-Par-Bogey from the eighth to the 12th turned out to be disastrous and he finished +1 for the day and 7th for the tournament.
Andy Sullivan also suffered a similar fate, grabbing a bizarre double bogey on the 12th after missing a putt from around two feet away. His +3 score saw him finish 15th. Guido Migliozzi seemed to have the biggest fall from grace throughout the day. Migliozzi missed out on lifting the title against Richard Bland in 2020 after the Italian failed to birdie the final hole, leaving Bland with a monster putt which he made to take his first career crown. Migliozzi suffered four bogeys and two double bogeys in the opening 12 holes, falling from his -7 at the start of the day to finish up with +5, and -2 for the tournament.
The R&A confirmed after the event that Hillier, Wiebe and Wilson had all qualified for the 151st British Open at Royal Liverpool, something that will no doubt bring great joy to the three of them.
