Dean breaks through after birdie barrage

Following a weather disrupted first two days at The Belfry, he returned to complete round three at 7.00am Sunday morning eight shots off the lead, picking up two to reduce the gap to seven heading into the final round.

And while the rest of the field battled on a blustery day, Dean made nine more birdies in a 63 which was the lowest round of the week to set the target at 14 under.

With the final group and closest challenger Marco Penge on the 12th two shots back, the man from Sheffield and wife and caddie Emily faced a long wait to see if he would lift the trophy.

But big-hitting Penge could not take advantage of the par-five 15th and 17th, leaving Dean as the champion by three shots.

Spaniard Nacho Elvira, Kiwi Daniel Hillier and Danish pair Niklas Nørgaard and Jacob Skov Olsen finished in a  tie for second, one ahead of Penge, Northen Irishman Tom McKibbin and German Thomas Rosenmueller.