Daniel Hillier clinched his maiden DP World Tour title at the 2023 Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.

After reaching the turn in 35 courtesy of two birdies and a single bogey on the front nine, European Challenge Tour graduate Hillier finished his round with a flourish, going eagle-birdie-eagle from the 15th to open up a two-shot lead.

The New Zealander suffered a late scare when he cleared the green at the tricky 18th, but he managed to save par there with a nerveless eight-foot putt to finish the tournament on ten under par.

With the final group several holes behind him, Hillier had to wait around an hour before finally being able to celebrate a stunning two-shot victory.

American Gunner Wiebe and Englishman Oliver Wilson were Hillier's nearest challengers on eight under, with the trio booking their spots at the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

Englishman Justin Rose and Scottish pair Calum Hill and Ewen Ferguson were then in a tie for fourth on seven under, one ahead of Dane Niklas Nørgaard.

Starting the day three shots off the lead, Hillier came agonisingly close to holing his 22-foot eagle putt at the par-five third but instead had to settle for a tap-in birdie.

The 24-year-old gave the shot back after finding water at the sixth, but did well to limit the damage to just a bogey.

He bounced back with a five-foot birdie on the ninth before parring each of the next five holes to remain some way off the pace.

But that suddenly changed at the long 15th as Hillier drained his 40-foot eagle effort to jump to seven under par.

And he followed that up with a stunning fairway bunker shot on the 16th to set up a close-range birdie, which earned him a share of the lead.

Hillier kept his foot on the gas at the par-five 17th, launching his second shot to six feet before tapping in the putt for his second eagle of the day.

Heading down the 18th with a two-shot lead, Hillier sent his second shot from the rough over the back of the enormous green - landing his ball alongside the trophy.

Knowing he still had work to do to avoid running up a big number, the New Zealander played a well-judged third before saving par from eight feet to give the chasing pack no realistic chance of catching him.

Hillier, who also recorded recent top-five finishes at the KLM Open and BMW International Open, was thrilled to enter the winner's circle.

He said: "I'm over the moon and a bit lost for words. Those last few holes are going to take a while to process I think.”

“I felt pretty good over (the final putt). I felt as comfortable as you can over a putt of that magnitude.And I just had to tell myself to put a good stroke on it,” he added.

Hillier follows in the footsteps of countryman Bob Charles, who won this event in 1972, and he was thrilled to be in such illustrious company.

"That's pretty amazing. Obviously he's New Zealand's golfing hero so it's pretty cool to be on the same trophy as him," said Hillier.

Malaysia’s Gavin Green hung tough to finish within the top ten for the week. Green signed in scores of 69, 74, 69 and 71 to be in joint eight position on five-under par 283. The Malaysian moves 15 spots up the Road To Dubai Rankings, putting him in 64th place.