The Englishman Daniel Brown (-22) has achieved victory at the BMW International Open. It is his second triumph on the DP World Tour after the ISPS Handa World Invitational in 2023. He has won through consistency. Through reliability. He has only made three bogeys in 72 holes and just one in the last 61. He has been precise, stayed out of trouble, and capitalised on birdie opportunities.
It was not an easy final round for a leader like Brown, who started with a one-shot advantage. Conditions were again very favourable at the Golfclub München Eichenried in Munich, with no wind and birdies coming thick and fast. Before the leaders even teed off, big scores were already being posted. It was not a day to play it safe with a par round and see what happens. You had to attack. If you waited to see what happened, you would be left behind.
Daniel Brown did not allow any surprises. He started brilliantly, with four birdies in the first six holes. That laid the foundations for the battle for victory. At the very least, he managed to reduce and contain his rivals. He neutralised the challengers and was left in a head-to-head with Jordan Smith (-20), with whom he was playing, making it easier to control.
It was a battle between Englishmen, and the one who putted best won, and yes, also the one who played best, the one who missed the fewest shots, the one who stayed out of trouble. Everything was decided between holes 10 and 14. Smith played that stretch with a +2, with three bogeys and one birdie. Too much of a concession for a player as steady this week as Brown. In that same stretch, he scored -1. Basically, what he did was something as difficult as playing well enough to force others to do something extraordinary. He finished with a round of 66 and won by two shots over Jordan Smith (-20) and three over Kazuma Kobori (-18), who had the round of the day with 63 shots. He came from far back. Or not so far. That’s what Brown achieved.
The brand-new champion of the BMW International Open has had an interesting career. He has been a late bloomer, as his rookie year on the DP World Tour was in 2023, at the age of 28. Since then, he has already claimed two victories and made his mark in a Major, at last year’s Open Championship, where he finished tenth after leading for many holes. In the past two years, he has also been dealing with a complicated knee injury. Just this 2025, he has missed many tournaments. He was out for eight weeks between Singapore, where he withdrew, and the Soudal Open. He missed a good part of March, all of April, and a good part of May. He also withdrew from Austria just over a month ago due to the same issues. He is resilient.
This victory, combined with a second place in Bahrain and a tenth in Qatar, allows him to break into the top 15 of the Race to Dubai and look towards a PGA Tour card. Jordan Smith, on the other hand, once again falls just short of victory, demonstrating once more that he is an excellent golfer who struggles to close out weeks. He is not the only one this happens to. He moves into the top 10 of the Race, strengthening his bid to be on the American circuit next year.
