DANNY Hunt won the Bolton Golf Championship last night with victory over Tim Philbin.

Hunt won on the 17th hole at Hindley Hall Golf Club after a dream campaign, just a month after he considered quitting the game.

The key to his victory on his first appearance in the knockout stages after more than 10 years of trying to qualify was his outstanding putting, amazingly the reason he was thinking of giving up golf.

The 28-year-old Great Lever and Farnworth player won the seventh, eighth and ninth holes, the latter two with birdies, to go 3-up.

While Philbin, a 47-year-old Wiganer and member of Hindley Hall, pulled one back on the 10th and another on the 13th, a monster putt by Hunt on the 15th put him 2-up and set him up for victory in front of his large contingent of supporters in the crowd of around 250 spectators.

It was the third time Philbin has been runner-up, equalling the number of times he has won the championship, taking the title in 1995, 1997 and 2009.

Hunt dedicated the win to John Burgess, who worked with Bolton junior golfers.

"It was his funeral today and I had his initials on my ball," said the Bolton champion.

"It's incredible because I was going to give it up a month ago because of my putting.

"I couldn't get it right but coaching lessons put it right – I just dropped my shoulder, that's all it is."

Hunt's putting was immaculate throughout the tournament.

An underdog when he was one of the eight players to come through Saturday's qualifiers out of 80-plus contenders, he was a revelation all week, especially when coming back from five shots down after just six holes in his semi-final against Sam Berry on Wednesday night.

He capitalised on Philbin's early struggle to find his game, and when the more experienced player hit some form and pulled to within one hole, Hunt kept his composure and handled the pressure to complete a magnificent victory.