South African Branden Grace beat his idols and more experienced countrymen Ernie Els and Retief Goosen to win a playoff for the Volvo Golf Champions at The Links at Fancourt on Sunday. Grace lives in Knysna and plays out of George Golf Club as the Garden Route celebrated an historic home-town win.
After all three players had finished regulation play tied for the lead on a 12-under-par 280 total, Grace birdied the first playoff hole – the par-five 18th – to claim his second consecutive victory on the European Tour following his triumph in the Joburg Open.
“It’s awesome. It’s been amazing, and it’s nice to sit here again on a Sunday afternoon as I did last week,” said Grace, who earlier had missed a three-foot putt for birdie on the 18th in regulation play that would have secured him victory.
“You know you’ve got a three-footer and if you make it you’re a hero. I didn’t think I hit a bad putt, to be honest.
“But the confidence from last week played an important role. I was lying in bed the night before the final round reading a couple of articles and saw that there were seven players with 13 Majors chasing me. I thought it’s a big field behind me. But I just stuck to what I was doing.
“It’s been a dream to play here and to win a tournament of this calibre.”
It was a victory made all that more memorable considering Grace had initially been asked by the sponsors to play as a marker in the 35-man field, before his victory in the Joburg Open saw him qualify automatically for the winner’s only tournament.
“I guess I would’ve definitely come in any case. But fortunately I won and got myself in, and managed to finish it in the end,” said Grace.
It was a thrilling final round in which the lead changed several times.
Els set the mark in the clubhouse at 12-under-par with a sublime round of 67, including a birdie at the last.
Goosen birdied three of the final four holes to also finish on 12-under with a 70.
That left Grace and Nicolas Colsaerts out on the course. Both arrived on the 18th also on 12-under-par.
But Colsaerts hit a wayward drive and eventually missed a four-foot putt for par to stay in the playoff, instead finishing on 11-under with a 72.
Grace missed the chance to claim victory on the 72nd hole, but made no mistake in the playoff.
“Standing on the tee with Ernie and Retief in the playoff was unbelievable. I was very calm though. It’s one of those awesome things to know I’ve beaten two of my idols in a playoff.”
Grace has already refocused his goals. “I’ll keep playing until I’m exhausted and will then take a break. I’ve got my wins now, but I’m definitely not going to stop here. I want to keep winning as many as I can and one of my goals is getting into the top 50 in the world, improving that, it was not all that difficult,” he said.
Final Result
280 - Branden Grace 68 66 75 71
280 - Ernie Els 71 71 71 67, Retief Goosen 72 68 70 70
281 - Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL) 64 76 69 72
282 - Charl Schwartzel 75 67 68 72
284 - Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP) 71 68 72 73
286 - Raphael Jacquelin (FRA) 71 69 77 69, Louis Oosthuizen 69 71 72 74
287 - Thomas Aiken 68 70 77 72
288 - Paul Lawrie(SCO) 72 68 74 74, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 69 73 70 76
289 - Robert Rock (ENG) 73 70 79 67, Oliver Fisher (ENG) 77 72 69 71, Robert Karlsson(SWE) 74 70 72 73, Lee Slattery (ENG) 73 65 77 74
290 - David Horsey (ENG) 69 72 76 73, Hennie Otto 71 69 76 74, Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 71 70 75 74, Alexander Noren (SWE) 72 68 74 76
291 - Simon Dyson (ENG) 75 70 73 73, Darren Clarke (NIR) 74 68 73 76
292 - Tom Lewis (ENG) 68 74 77 73
293 - Matteo Manassero (ITA) 76 73 76 68
294 - Miguel Angel Jiménez (ESP) 71 72 79 72, S S P Chowrasia (IND) 75 71 72 76
295 - Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (ESP) 74 72 78 71, Matthew Zions (AUS) 70 75 77 73, Joost Luiten (NED) 69 72 77 77
296 - Garth Mulroy 71 73 76 76
297 - Kenneth Ferrie (ENG) 71 76 80 70
300 - Colin Montgomerie (SCO) 70 75 80 75
302 - Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) 74 74 78 76
308 - Michael Hoey (NIR) 78 72 76 82
312 - Pablo Martin (ESP) 76 73 90 73, Thomas Levet (FRA) 81 73 82 76
