British Masters
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 word "British" usually also in the tournament's official name.
The tournament was not held from 2009 to 2014 but returned to the schedule in 2015. The 2015 event was held at Woburn and was won by Matthew Fitzpatrick. Alex Norén won in 2016 at The Grove while Paul Dunne won in 2017 at Close House Golf Club with a record score of 260.
History
The Dunlop Masters was first held in 1946 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 was first played in 1934, the same year as The Masters.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.
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:
- 2015: Ian Poulter at Woburn Golf Club.
- 2016: Luke Donald at The Grove.
- 2017: Lee Westwood at Close House Golf Club.
- 2018: Justin Rose at Walton Heath Golf Club.
- 2019: Tommy Fleetwood at Hillside Golf Club.
- 2020: Lee Westwood at Close House Golf Club.
Winners
;European Tour event;Pre-European Tour
Year | Winner | Country | Venue | Score | Margin of victory | Runner-up | Ref |
1971 | Maurice Bembridge | St. Pierre G&CC | 273 | 2 strokes | ![]() | ||
1970 | Brian Huggett | Royal Lytham & St Annes GC | 293 | 5 strokes | ![]() | ||
1969 | Cobie Legrange | Little Aston GC | 281 | 3 strokes | ![]() | ||
1968 | Peter Thomson | Sunningdale GC | 274 | 5 strokes | ![]() | ||
1967 | Tony Jacklin | Royal St George's GC | 274 | 3 strokes | ![]() | ||
1966 | Neil Coles | Lindrick GC | 278 | 1 stroke | ![]() ![]() | ||
1965 | Bernard Hunt | Portmarnock GC | 283 | 1 stroke | ![]() | ||
1964 | Cobie Legrange | Royal Birkdale GC | 288 | 1 stroke | ![]() ![]() | ||
1963 | Bernard Hunt | Little Aston GC | 282 | 4-hole playoff | ![]() | ||
1962 | Dai Rees | Wentworth Club | 278 | 2 strokes | ![]() ![]() | ||
1961 | Peter Thomson | Royal Porthcawl GC | 284 | 8 strokes | ![]() | ||
1960 | Jimmy Hitchcock | Sunningdale GC | 275 | 2 strokes | ![]() ![]() ![]() | ||
1959 | Christy O'Connor Snr | Portmarnock GC | 276 | 4 strokes | ![]() ![]() | ||
1958 | Harry Weetman | Little Aston GC | 276 | 4 strokes | ![]() | ||
1957 | Eric Brown | Notts GC | 275 | 3 strokes | ![]() | ||
1956 | Christy O'Connor Snr | Prestwick GC | 277 | 1 stroke | ![]() | ||
1955 | Harry Bradshaw | Little Aston GC | 277 | 4 strokes | ![]() | ||
1954 | Bobby Locke | Prince's GC | 291 | 3 strokes | ![]() | ||
1953 | Harry Bradshaw | Sunningdale GC | 272 | 3 strokes | ![]() | ||
1952 | Harry Weetman | Mere GC | 281 | 4 strokes | ![]() | ||
1951 | Max Faulkner | Wentworth Club | 281 | 4 strokes | ![]() | ||
1950 | Dai Rees | Hoylake | 281 | 4 strokes | ![]() | ||
1949 | Charlie Ward | St Andrews | 290 | 36-hole playoff | ![]() | ||
1948 | Norman Von Nida | Sunningdale GC | 272 | 2 strokes | ![]() | ||
1947 | Arthur Lees | Little Aston GC | 283 | 36-hole playoff | ![]() | ||
1946 | Jimmy Adams | Stoneham GC | 286 | Tie | |||
1946 | Bobby Locke | Stoneham GC | 286 | Tie |
Multiple winners
- 2 wins: Seve Ballesteros, Harry Bradshaw, Bernard Gallacher, Bernard Hunt, Tony Jacklin, Cobie Legrange, Bobby Locke, Greg Norman, Christy O'Connor Snr, Dai Rees, Peter Thomson, Harry Weetman, Ian Woosnam