'That was for him' - Brown pays tribute to friend after win
Brown finished 10th at last year's Open Championship
- Published
BMW International Open - final leaderboard
-22 D Brown (Eng); -20 J Smith (Eng); -18 K Kobori (NZ); -16 J Luiten (Ned), D Bryant (US), K Reitan (Nor)
Selected others: -15 L Canter (Eng) -14 M Penge (Eng) -11 S Jamieson (Sco) R Ramsay (Sco) -10 R Mansell (Eng) J Parry (Eng) M Armitage (Eng)
An emotional Dan Brown dedicated his victory at the BMW International Open to his late friend after he won his first European tour title since 2023.
The 30-year-old shot a bogey-free final round of 66 as he fought off fellow Briton Jordan Smith to win by two shots.
"I lost a friend at home last weekend," said Brown. "I don't know what to say really, but that was for him.
"The last two days I've been thinking about him to try and take my mind off it, obviously try not to get too emotional in the process.
"I'm not too sure what happened today. Like all day, it was an out-of-body experience. Obviously nerves, and then thinking about the importance of winning a golf tournament.
"It sort of played it down with what happened. I suppose he was there with me and it made it a lot easier.
Brown is now the eighth English winner of the tournament.
He began the day with a one-shot lead over Smith but extended his advantage with four birdies in his first six holes.
Both players found birdies on the final hole, with New Zealand's Kazuma Kobori rounding out the top three on 18 under.