GOLF NEWS - South Africa’s Branden Grace carded an incredible final round nine-under 62 to win the South African Open hosted by the City of Joburg at Randpark Golf Club on Sunday.
Not only was it an amazing way to win his national Open, it was the lowest closing round to win an SA Open in the tournament’s history.
And his 62 matched the score that Grace shot in the British Open in 2017 at Royal Birkdale – the lowest score ever recorded in a Major.
Grace’s 21-under total was three better than tournament host and defending champion Louis Oosthuizen, who finished second on 18-under with a three-under 68 that featured a hole-in-one at the par three eighth.
Nine one-putts. One bogey. An eagle and eight birdies. The victory at Firethorn was his ninth on the European Tour and came with a first prize worth R2.7-million. It was the title he has been chasing since 2007.
“It took me long enough to get my hands on this trophy,” said the 31-year-old Grace.
“This is the one I wanted. I’ve won the Dunhill, the Nedbank, the Joburg Open and Dimension Data, but this is the one I really wanted to get my hands on. Well, now it’s in the bag and it feels great.
Being the second oldest event in the world means a lot and it also means so much to win it in South Africa in front of the home fans.”
England’s Marcus Armitage was third on 16-under, with another Englishman in Jack Senior on 15-under alongside SA’s Jaco Ahlers.
GolfRSA’s number one ranked amateur Jayden Schaper was among a host of players tied on 13-under for sixth position. The 18-year-old collected the Freddie Tait Cup for his efforts – the same trophy Grace won in 2006 at Humewood and certainly an indication that the future is bright for the Ebotse golfer.
2020 South African Open Championship winner Branden Grace at Randpark Golf Club. Photo: Ernest Blignault
Despite a bogey on his second hole to fall four behind overnight leader Oosthuizen, Grace said he kept believing the tournament was destined for his clutches.
“I felt in control from the start. I actually hit a good shot into the second, maybe just a couple yards right and had a big kick to the right. I took it on the chin, and my goal was to be tied with the leaders after nine holes. And I probably would have been one ahead if Louis didn’t have the hole-in-one on eight,” he said.
“It was a great day. I can’t remember the last time I played this well and was so in the zone - even from the first hole - I had a good look at birdie at the first. It was such an amazing day, and what a way to finish off.”
It was indeed a tense final round, with Oosthuizen struggling with a cold putter and Grace, playing in the group ahead. applying the pressure.
“If somebody tells you they don’t look at the leaderboard, I think they’re lying,” Grace said.
“There are so many leaderboards out there, you can’t not look. On a day like today, you have to look at the leaderboards when you’re coming from behind.
“When I saw I was tied or one ahead, I kept on pushing. In the past I might have put the brakes on, but today was a different scenario. I stayed in the moment.”
It was his first finish in the winner’s circle since November 2017 when he lifted the Nedbank Challenge trophy at Sun City. A former world number-10, Grace’s ranking had plummeted to 129th and the victory in Johannesburg could not have come at a better time.
In addition to the prize money, and a life-time exemption, Grace earned a spot in this year’s Open Championship at Royal St George’s alongside Armitage and South Africa’s Jaco Ahlers, who tied for fourth on 15-under with England’s Jack Senior.
“I had a bit of a sour taste at the end of last year because knew I wasn’t in The Open. I ticked a lot of goals this week – back in The Open and I’m into the World Golf Championship in Mexico. This has kick-started my year perfectly.”
FINAL RESULT
- 263 - Branden Grace 64 70 67 62
- 266 - Louis Oosthuizen 65 69 64 68
- 268 - Marcus Armitage 65 72 62 69
- 269 - Jack Senior 67 66 69 67, Jaco Ahlers 66 66 68 69
- 271 - Hennie du Plessis 67 67 69 68, George Coetzee 65 69 68 69, JC Ritchie 63 72 67 69, Jayden Schaper 65 67 69 70, Andy Sullivan 66 68 67 70, Martin Rohwer 66 71 64 70
- 272 - Harry Hall 65 68 71 68
- 273 - Maverick Antcliff 67 67 72 67, Johannes Veerman 62 71 72 68
- 274 - Gavin Green 68 67 71 68, Lorenzo Scalise 68 69 69 68, Tapio Pulkkanen 65 66 72 71, Keith Horne 69 65 69 71, Nino Bertasio 63 71 69 71, Min Woo Lee 66 69 67 72, Jacques Blaauw 69 65 67 73
- 275 - Jean Hugo 70 68 70 67, Erik van Rooyen 70 68 70 67, Garth Mulroy 71 65 71 68, Trevor Fisher Jnr 65 67 73 70, Richard Bland 70 67 67 71, Connor Syme 66 68 69 72
- 276 - Jaco Van Zyl 70 68 73 65, Thomas Detry 68 68 74 66, Clement Sordet 71 67 69 69, Oliver Farr 68 68 69 71, Luke Jerling 67 70 68 71, CJ du Plessis 66 69 69 72, Juran Dreyer 69 68 67 72, Peter Karmis 64 70 69 73
- 277 - Casey Jarvis 68 70 72 67, Rhys Enoch 69 67 73 68, Hennie Otto 66 71 72 68, Jeff Winther 65 71 72 69, Shaun Norris 68 69 70 70, Mark Williams 67 67 71 72, Matthew Baldwin 65 70 70 72, Steve Surry 69 67 68 73, Thriston Lawrence 67 65 70 75
- 278 - Joachim B. Hansen 70 68 71 69, Dave Coupland 71 67 71 69, Haydn Porteous 70 66 72 70, Marc Warren 70 68 65 75
- 279 - Julien Guerrier 68 68 72 71, Marcel Siem 66 69 72 72
- 280 - Philip Geerts 66 70 75 69, Gregory Bourdy 70 67 71 72, Antoine Rozner 66 71 71 72, Sami Valimaki 67 70 71 72, James Hart du Preez 71 65 71 73, Chase Hanna 70 68 69 73
- 281 - Deon Germishuys 70 68 71 72, Chris Paisley 68 68 72 73, Rikard Karlberg 70 67 71 73, Gavin Moynihan 68 69 71 73, Jonathan Caldwell 70 68 70 73
- 282 - Sam Horsfield 64 68 75 75, Jarryd Felton 67 71 68 76
- 283 - Matias Calderon 64 72 72 75, Hurly Long 70 66 70 77
- 284 - Jacques Kruyswijk 66 72 74 72, Wynand Dingle 68 67 74 75, Brett Rumford 69 67 70 78
- 285 - Estiaan Conradie 72 66 75 72, David Micheluzzi 65 72 71 77
- 286 - Rourke van der Spuy 64 74 73 75, Philip Eriksson 70 68 72 76
- 287 - Ruan de Smidt 66 72 74 75, Ross McGowan 69 68 72 78
- 289 - Daniel Greene 67 66 78 78
- 292 - Christo Lamprecht 70 68 77 77
Written by Michael Sherman and Lali Stander on behalf of GolfRSA.
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