Grace ticks yet another box in the USA
South African Branden Grace carded a final round five-under par 66 on Sunday to claim his first US PGA Tour victory at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Starting the day in fifth position, Grace reeled off seven birdies and just two bogies to finish on nine-under for the week. The 27-year-old’s 275 total courtesy of earlier rounds of 66 74 and 69, left him two shots ahead of Scotland’s Russell Knox and former world number-one Luke Donald of England.
“This really puts the cherry on top of the cake,” Grace said. “And I’m excited for the future.”
“I can tick this one off the box and head into the next couple of Majors trying to win it,” he said. “I have one notch, I’ve done it before and I can do it again.”
Grace, a seven-time European Tour winner, last tasted victory at the Qatar Masters in Doha Golf Club in January where he defended his title. That performance moved him up to 10th in the World Rankings, but he has since struggled most notably missing the cut at the Masters. \
Notching up his first victory on US soil on Sunday, however, propels Grace back up to 11th in the rankings – one spot ahead of countryman Louis Oosthuizen – to again lay claim to the title of number one ranked South African in the world.
“It’s unbelievable. The last couple of weeks or last couple of months it’s been pretty tough. I’ve been playing some good golf, but just not finishing golf. I had some good moments and good things that I can feel from last year coming into this week. Like I mentioned on Thursday, I like this golf course, I like the way it plays, and I like the type of golf I have to play around it. It worked out and I’m super stoked. I’m really excited and just fortunate that I’m in this position.”
As a member of the Links at Fancourt, in George, South Africa, Grace said the course in South Carolina was similar to his home layout. Grace though, received an extra boost of confidence from Ernie Els ahead of the tournament.
“You know, I have spoken to Ernie in the past about this event. And he thought it’s one that’s really going to suit my eye. It reminds me a little bit of Fancourt Links back home, because it’s ‘linksy’. You really have to see your shots. You have to hit a couple of different shots, not shots that you hit often.
“But at the beginning of the week we actually spoke on Wednesday, we went to his house for coffee. And he told me this is one event that I’m going to win a couple of times in my career. It was nice to hear from a legend like that. And obviously Ernie said, I told you you were going to win it a couple of times. So it’s nice to hear those things.” - Michael Sherman