Ireland's Paul Dunne produced a stunning final round to hold off a thrilling challenge from Rory McIlroy and claim his first European Tour title in the British Masters.

Dunne, who sprang to prominence after sharing the 54-hole lead in the 2015 Open Championship while still an amateur, fired seven birdies and an eagle in a closing 61 to finish 20 under par.

And the 24-year-old sealed victory in style by chipping in on the 18th to finish three shots clear of McIlroy, whose 63 was the lowest score of an injury-plagued season which he will bring to an early, self-imposed end next week.

Dunne began the tournament as a 50/1 outsider while was 10/1 with Sky Bet heading into the final round, with McIlroy 9/2 favourite.

Ryder Cup vice-captain Robert Karlsson, who began the day with a one-shot lead, finished third on 16 under with Graeme Storm, David Lingmerth and Florian Fritsch on 14 under.

Dunne, who lost a play-off to Edoardo Molinari in the Hassan Trophy in April, enjoyed a remarkable stroke of luck when his approach to the 11th pitched into a sprinkler head on the edge of the green and bounced back to within five feet of the hole.

But the good fortune was well deserved after the 24-year-old played the first six holes in five under par to move into a lead he would never relinquish, with the victory - worth £500,000 - lifting him into the world's top 100 for the first time.

McIlroy was always playing catch-up despite a hat-trick of birdies from the sixth and his chance of a first win of the year looked to have gone when he missed good chances on the ninth and 10th and bogeyed the next.

However, the four-time major winner refused to throw in the towel and carded four birdies in five holes from the 12th, before coming within inches of driving the green on the short par-four 17th.

From a tricky lie on the edge of a greenside bunker, McIlroy chipped to four feet and holed for birdie to close within a single shot, but a lengthy birdie attempt on the last was never on line.

That left Dunne needing to par the final two holes for victory but he birdied the 17th and chipped in for another on the last, a fitting end to a week which saw record crowds of 60,180 in attendance.

Final round collated scores

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 70):

260 Paul Dunne 66 68 65 61

263 Rory McIlroy 67 69 64 63

264 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 66 65 67 66

266 David Lingmerth (Swe) 68 70 62 66, Graeme Storm 65 67 67 67, Florian Fritsch (Ger) 66 68 69 63

267 Shane Lowry 68 66 66 67

268 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 67 67 67 67, Richie Ramsay 67 67 65 69, Tyrrell Hatton 63 65 71 69

269 Chris Hanson 64 67 69 69, Ian Poulter 66 65 68 70, Nacho Elvira (Spa) 70 67 66 66, Matthew Fitzpatrick 66 69 66 68

270 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 67 71 65 67, Marc Warren 70 67 65 68, Stephen Gallacher 69 69 66 66, George Coetzee (Rsa) 63 72 65 70, Lee Westwood 66 65 70 69

271 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 71 67 65 68, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 66 70 66 69, Mike Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 69 68 68 66, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 64 68 72 67, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 66 71 66 68, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 64 73 67 67

272 Chris Wood 67 68 66 71, Daniel Brooks 66 70 68 68, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 67 68 73 64, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 68 68 67 69, Gregory Havret (Fra) 67 67 71 67

273 David Horsey 69 69 69 66, Brandon Stone (Rsa) 69 67 71 66, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 70 68 69 66, Lee Slattery 65 67 72 69, Scott Jamieson 68 68 69 68, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 69 65 74 65

274 Anthony Wall 69 68 68 69, Robert Rock 68 68 70 68, Jamie Donaldson 70 68 69 67, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 70 67 71 66, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 66 69 69 70, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 68 67 71 68, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 70 68 68 68

275 Anders Hansen (Den) 69 68 67 71, Graeme McDowell 66 68 72 69, Andy Sullivan 68 69 71 67, David Drysdale 71 67 70 67, Alexander Levy (Fra) 69 68 70 68, Jeunghun Wang (Kor) 68 69 69 69, Eduardo De La Riva (Spa) 70 68 71 66, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 67 70 68 70

276 Laurie Canter 69 68 71 68, Paul Waring 68 68 73 67, Ashley Chesters 65 66 72 73, Tom Lewis 70 67 69 70, Aaron Rai 70 67 71 68

277 Duncan Stewart 71 67 67 72, Pep Angles (Spa) 68 70 69 70, Danny Willett 69 67 72 69

278 Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 70 68 71 69, Oliver Fisher 70 68 68 72

279 Haotong Li (Chn) 67 69 68 75, Joel Stalter (Fra) 65 69 74 71, Sebastien Gros (Fra) 70 67 71 71, Mark Foster 68 69 69 73

281 S.S.P Chawrasia (Ind) 72 65 72 72

282 Johan Carlsson (Swe) 65 73 67 77

Day three report & odds update

Rory McIlroy fired his best round for three months as veteran Robert Karlsson ended an entertaining third round with a one shot lead at the British Masters.

At the start of the week the Northern Irishman insisted he was unconcerned about the prospect of just the second winless season of his career, a season which will come to an early end next week.

But the four-time major winner's bogey-free round of 64 at Close House equalled his lowest score of an injury-hit campaign and leave him just two shots behind Karlsson, who fired a 67 to move to 12 under par for the tournament.

McIlroy began the round as a 25/1 shot to win the title but he's now 9/2 favourite with Sky Bet., while Karlsson can be backed at 9/1 behind Tyrrell Hatton (11/2) and Ian Poulter (13/2), who are in a four-way share of second place.

The others are Richie Ramsay (11/1) and Graeme Storm (11/1), who was tipped up by our golf expert Dave John pre-tournament at 110/1.

Rory McIlroy in action at the British Masters

Sky Bet's latest odds

PRICE BOOST: McILROY OR POULTER TO WIN THE BRITISH MASTERS - 5/2 from 2/1

9/2 Rory McIlroy
11/2 Tyrrell Hatton
13/2 Ian Poulter
9/1 Robert Karlsson
10/1 Paul Dunne
11/1 Graeme Storm, Richie Ramsay

Odds correct at 1745 BST on 30/09/17.

Poulter may well be in contention for a first victory in five years but was furious when finding water with his tee shot on the par-three fifth after being distracted by spectators taking pictures on their phones.

"What are we doing?" an irate Poulter said. "We've allowed them all to take pictures and videos and tell them to put them on silent, and it doesn't work does it?

"You get distracted on the wrong hole at the wrong time and it's extremely penal and it's really f****** annoying."

Asked if mobile phones should be banned - as they are at Augusta National for the Masters - Poulter added: "No, I just think people need to educate themselves and understand it's an issue for us and them. They don't realise they distract us as much as they do. Ninety nine per cent of them are on silent and unfortunately there's a couple which are not. You're not expecting it because you think they've got it on silent.

"I'm angry and am going to continue to be angry until I wake up tomorrow morning. Throwing shots away for no reason is really annoying."

McIlroy was in a far better mood, saying: "You get yourself into contention and you start to think about things and it would be nice to get a win. The crowds have been fantastic. The last couple of tournaments I've been off pretty early on the weekends and had 50 people following me, where there's thousands out there so it's nice to get into that sort of environment again."

Storm was equally happy to see McIlroy's name in the frame, having beaten the Northern Irishman in a play-off for the South African Open in January. He said: "I saw his name go on the leaderboard and I was thinking this could be a bit of an omen, something which could be great for me again. I'm disappointed I'm not leading the tournament to be perfectly honest. I missed short putts on 12, 13 and 14 and should have been sitting pretty on the top of the leaderboard, but we're in with a shout and that's all I can do."

Day two report

Tyrrell Hatton roared into a three-shot lead and spearheaded an impressive English challenge at the top of the leaderboard on day two of the British Masters supported by Sky Sports.

Hatton defied the wet and miserable early conditions to add a composed 65 to his opening 63 to hit the front on 12 under par, and he is one of a remarkable seven English players in the top 10 at the halfway stage at Close House.

Tournament host Lee Westwood and fellow veteran Ian Poulter are among the chasing pack in a share of second while Rory McIlroy recovered from a poor start to make the cut with plenty to spare, but Masters champion Sergio Garcia played one shot too many to avoid a weekend off.

David John's 110/1 pre-tournament pick Graeme Storm is four shots behind Hatton and is now as short as 20/1 to lift the trophy.Hatton was out early in persistent rain and chilly conditions, but he made light of the unpleasant weather and got off to a flying start from the 10th with three birdies over his first four holes.

The overnight joint-leader extended his lead further with another gain at the 17th as he covered the back-nine in 31, and he picked up another shot at the fourth before making his only mistake of the day three holes later.

Tyrrell Hatton

Hatton rebounded and birdied the eighth for the second day running, and a solid par at the last kept him at 12 under and with a clear lead that did not come under serious threat for the remainder of the round.

Rising star Ashley Chesters did get within two of Hatton when he reeled off three consecutive birdies from the fourth - his 13th - but a bogey at the eighth dropped him into a share of second with Poulter, Westwood, Chris Hanson and Robert Karlsson.

Westwood continued his flawless progress around his home course, getting his round up and running with three birdies in a row from the 14th and adding two more on the front nine as he returned a 65 while completing 36 holes without a blemish on his card.

Poulter also stayed within striking distance of the leader and went one better than Westwood with four consecutive birdies on the back nine and, after a couple of classy par-saves around the turn, he birdied the sixth and eighth either side of a bogey at eight after a pulled tee shot left him blocked out for his approach.

Karlsson, currently the only confirmed assistant captain to Thomas Bjorn for next year's Ryder Cup, was another to fire a six-birdie 65 before Chris Hanson made it a five-way tie for second thanks to a late eagle at the sixth in his resolute 67.

Two more Englishman, Storm and Lee Slattery, both returned 67s to move into the top 10 on eight under alongside Mikko Ilonen, with Graeme McDowell (68) and Shane Lowry (66) among a group of nine players a shot further back.

McIlroy will start his third round eight shots off the pace, although he flirted with not being around for the weekend at all when he bogeyed the second and fifth to slip to one under - one outside the projected cut mark at the time.

But the world number six gave the vast galleries following his group some cheer when he made a valuable birdie at the sixth and he picked up another shot at the 11th to lift the pressure.

Another birdie at the 17th following a mammoth drive got him under the card for the day, although he missed a great chance for another at the last as he settled for a 69.

However, Garcia narrowly failed to extend his tournament on a rare visit to British soil despite a bogey-free round, but he managed only one birdie amid 17 pars and a 69 was not quite enough to make the cut.

Day one report

A relaxed Rory McIlroy made the most of a little help from his friends as he tries to end a disappointing season in style in the British Masters.

McIlroy, who was a late entry into the £3million event after failing to qualify for the Tour Championship, carded a three-under-par 67 to lie four shots behind leaders Tyrrell Hatton and George Coetzee at Close House, and remains a 9/1 chance with Sky Bet.

But it could have been a different story for the four-time major winner if a spectator had not found his ball inside the five-minute time limit after a wild drive on the 17th, his eighth hole of the day.

McIlroy produced a superb recovery from thick rough to the elevated green and went on to make three birdies on the front nine in his penultimate tournament of an injury-plagued season, which the former world number one will bring to an early end after next week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

"It's not a bad way to feel," the 28-year-old said. "You're not really looking ahead at anything, you're just concentrating on the round out there and not thinking about anything else.

"I feel like I'm not under any pressure to perform at all, I'm not putting myself under any pressure. That's probably the reason I've went out there and shot a decent score.

"I think if you asked 75 per cent of the guys out here they would say it would be nice to have some sort of an off-season.

"I'm just giving myself an off-season this year and looking forward to improving my health, improving my game and becoming a better player in 2018."

And it's Hatton who is favourite at 6/1 to double his European Tour tally almost exactly a year on from his breakthrough.

Storm, tipped at a three-figure price by our golf expert David John prior to the event, is into 25/1 to provide local fans with something to cheer, having been born in Hartlepool.

Slattery, who made worldwide news when he watched his wife give birth to their second child via FaceTime while he competed in Switzerland, carded five birdies in a flawless 65 compiled alongside 16-year-old amateur Robin Tiger Williams.

Williams, who was born in the year that Tiger Woods completed the 'Tiger Slam' of holding all four major titles at once, carded a highly respectable 71 and said: "It was so fun and enjoyable.

"I had trouble getting to sleep on Wednesday night and I was definitely nervous on the first tee, but as I got into the round I settled down and handled it very well."

Tournament host Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Matt Fitzpatrick, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter all shot 66, but Masters champion Sergio Garcia had to settle for a level-par 70. Defending champion Alex Noren finished one over.