I was runner-up to Rory McIlroy in the 2012 PGA Championship, now I am a property tycoon

FORMER PGA Championship runner-up David Lynn hung up his clubs early and became a property tycoon.

The golfer came second to Rory McIlroy at the major in 2012.

Getty Images – GettyDavid Lynn came second at the PGA Championships in 2013[/caption]

AP:Associated PressRory McIlroy won the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island[/caption]

Lynn was a complete outsider and finished eight strokes off the Northern Irishman and ahead of Justin Rose, who came third.

Afterwards, he became a member of the PGA Tour but quit the sport in 2014.

Lynn now makes his money as a successful property developer.

He told the Daily Mail that he missed a connecting flight to the Championships and had not been playing in the build-up to the tournament to protect his ranking and qualify.

He said: “When we got there, I just felt comfortable from the start. I remember it was humid, then the wind got up at the weekend.

“I posted a couple of 68s and blew my way through the field to beat everyone bar the one man who was unbeatable that week.

“It’s surreal looking back. Someone told me recently it’s still the joint best performance by an Englishman in the last 100 years at the PGA. That’s bizarre, isn’t it?”

Lynn won two events on the European Tour in 2013, saying: “I just loved the whole year, the difference it makes playing in front of a vocal crowd every week.”

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But he soon quit after falling out of love with golf, not due to injury.

Lynn explains: “I did have tendonitis but that wasn’t the reason I quit.

“The truth is simply that I had fallen out of love with the game. It might sound odd, but I just wanted to live normally. We’d had our first child [of two] and I felt like life was passing me by.

“I’d had nine years of constant travel, and it had got so mad on that treadmill that I’d forgotten how the weather worked. I came home and asked my partner Sally when the sun came out in Britain, because I couldn’t remember.

“After so many weeks on the road that year, I’d had enough and I’ve never missed it.”

The 49-year-old now develops properties and his latest venture in Hull sees him set to sell 38 houses, with some of the homes named after golfing greats.

Lynn said: “I started dabbling with property back in 2001 and it’s something I’m thankful for.

“This latest project has been my favourite, and I’m gutted that we’ve got a couple of houses left to sell.

“There are three of us, and we’ve seen it through from a piece of land that didn’t even have planning permission to what is there today.

“With this business, I use a bit of golf philosophy. If something doesn’t go right I see it as a missed cut, so you dust yourself down and move on to the next one.

“There’s a risk versus reward element, too, where you’ve got to weigh up your strategy and consider whether it’s worth taking on.”

David Lynn won the Portugal Masters in 2013Getty Images – Getty