Tournament: Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo
Race to Dubai: Tournament 34 of 44
Back 9: Tournament 1 of 9
Venue: The Belfry Hotel & Resort, Sutton Coldfield, England
Prize Fund: US$3,500,000
Hashtag: #BetfredBritishMasters #DPWT
Tournament preview
Sir Nick Faldo this week resumes hosting duties at the Betfred British Masters at The Belfry where both he and former tournament host Luke Donald will have a keen eye on the start of the qualification campaign for the 2025 European Ryder Cup Team.
Faldo returns to the tournament hosting role for the second consecutive year as the DP World Tour’s 2024 season enters its ‘Back 9’ at the renowned venue where Faldo made three of his 11 appearances for Europe in the biennial contest, in 1985, 1989 and 1993.
The six-time Major Champion is keen to see some of the European players get off to a good start as the campaign to make Captain Donald’s 12-man European Team for Bethpage Black next September begins in earnest.
Among those hoping to do that will be Englishman Harry Hall, who is teeing it up on home soil for the first time as a professional after winning the ISCO Championship in July which counts on both the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup and the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai.
Donald will have a first-hand vantage point of all of the hopefuls as he returns to the Betfred British Masters for the first time in six years, having previously hosted the tournament at The Grove in 2016.
He is joined in the field by Tyrrell Hatton, one of his team members in Rome in 2023, who is targeting a fourth consecutive Ryder Cup appearance.
The defending champion is New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier who overturned a three shot deficit to win his maiden DP World Tour title 12 months ago.
Meanwhile, Faldo helped to launch this year’s tournament by walking into his host’s press conference with a labrador puppy in training to help raise awareness of Guide Dogs, the Official Charity Partner of the Betfred British Masters. The puppy has been named ‘Faldo’ in honour of the most successful British golfer to have played on the DP World Tour.
Player quotes
Sir Nick Faldo: “We have a very good field this week. I’ve got 16 of my Faldo Series alumni as well, a couple of Englishmen, Harry Hall in America, I helped him a little bit last year in Montana. The course looks great. Looks like it had a nice drop of rain — I thought it might be burnt in August after a baking summer, but we didn’t have that. I think we’ll have good excitement with the fans and should be a fun week.
“It’s week one of Ryder Cup points, and I know with me, I would have been out there. It’s a great chance for somebody. I hope a European guy wins this week, and he’s like, good start. Get in there early. Get your points. I’m sure this is a goal, especially after Rome, a big goal of all the players that want to make the next team.”
Luke Donald: “I’ve watched many Ryder Cups and events at this place, but never actually played an event or played the course. Excited to be here and playing a British Masters.
“It’s exciting for me to see the points race starting. As a player, I remember when that started and I was very excited about getting going again, and kind of gave me an extra boost.
“And actually having a chat with Sir Nick, he was saying in Ryder Cup years, when the points started, even if I was 30th, I would grind to the last few holes to see if I could get 20 more points. You think about these things now and I think that’s exciting for the players.”
Harry Hall: “I always wanted to play over here in front of a home crowd since I turned pro, and it just didn’t work out that way. Worked my way through the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA TOUR to win a co-sanctioned event was fantastic, and hopefully I can get a lot of friends and family to come up and watch this week and over the next few weeks and I’m super excited.
“I’ve never played The Belfry, Royal County Down or Wentworth. So I’m excited to play some of the U.K. finest golf courses over the next few weeks.”
Tyrrell Hatton: “This actually my first time here playing the golf course. When we walk past the tenth, I have hit that tee shot on my dad’s simulator over the years. It’s exciting to be here. It’s an historic venue in British golf and European golf. So yeah, looking forward to it.
“(The Ryder Cup is) certainly one of the reasons why I wanted to play this week. The Ryder Cup is really important to me and I’d love to be on that team next year, and this is the perfect week to try and get off to a good start.
“I think any time you’re playing in front of home fans is always going to be a special week and for me personally, I’d love to go out there and play really well. Make loads of birdies and give the crowd something to cheer about as will all the other English guys playing this week.”
Daniel Hillier: “It was weird seeing the poster of my face out in front of the hotel. But yeah, it feels great to be back. Obviously coming back and walking around, and you see flashbacks from the year before. It’s all pretty cool feeling.
“Just come off a nice three-week break. So I’m feeling pretty fresh, and hopefully I can try and recreate some of those memories.”
