Paul Dunne Captures First European Tour Title

Behind a career-low final round 61, KPMG Brand Ambassador Paul Dunne held off the charging Rory McIlroy to win the 2017 British Masters with a cumulative score of 260, 20-under par.  The win is Dunne’s first on the European Tour and first since turning pro in 2015.

“It feels great,” Dunne said. “I feel like I’ve been up there a few times this year and never really got to put the foot down on Sunday. I woke up this morning and said ‘I’m going to try to go win it rather than have someone hand it to me,’ and I did it.”

Dunne entered play on Sunday in a five-way tie for second place, one shot behind Robert Karlsson, but raced to the lead after going five-under through the first six holes, which included an eagle on the Par-5 3rd.

As Dunne made the turn with a comfortable lead, McIlroy made a run of his own on the back nine, finishing at 17-under overall and putting the pressure on Dunne, who held a one-shot lead with two holes to play.  In convincing style, Dunne birdied the Par-4 17th and holed out for birdie from the bunker on the Par-3 18th, securing his first European Tour win in thrilling fashion.

“I’ve come close, so it’s nice to finally get the demon off my back, get my first one and hopefully build from here,” Dunne said.

With the victory, Dunne moves up to 12th in the Race to Dubai standings and could move to within the top-90 of the World Golf Rankings – he was ranked 192 heading into the tournament. His 9-under 61 also equaled the lowest final round across all professional tours this year, matching Hideki Matsuyama’s final round at the WGC-Bridgestone.

On behalf of everyone at KPMG, congratulations to Paul and we wish him continued success through the rest of the 2017 season and beyond!