Branden Grace had a one-stroke lead and nine holes to play after Jamie Elson eagled the 18th, but the former overcame the pressure and carded nine consecutive pars to win the €1,3-million Joburg Open.
“It was a bit more special to grind it out with nine pars, but that doesn’t mean it was easier. I kept hitting good shot after good shot – I couldn’t dream of hitting better approaches through my last five –and it was just a matter of staying patient,” said Grace.
The 23-year-old won the Gary Player Trophy for the best stroke average during 2011, and that consistency was finally rewarded when he took his first European Tour win, which came at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on Sunday.
“It’s been a long time coming and it’s nice to take my first win at home. Hard work and consistency paid off. From just getting my European Tour card, to gaining exemption, to playing events I never thought I would this year has really been unbelievable,” he said.
The George Golf Club professional had a shaky start after making bogey at the second, but settled through the front stretch and birdied the ninth to reaffirm his lead.
But Jamie Elson made sure the victory was not simple when he eagled the 18th and left Grace with a one-stroke lead and everything to lose over the back stretch. “I didn’t really look at the leaderboard, but I did see that Jamie (Elson) was 16-under and finished, so I knew it was up to my hands. But I stuck to my gameplan and that was enough at the end,” said Grace.
He shot level-par for the final 18, but Grace had entered the final round at 17-under-par, which proved to be enough to secure his victory.
The youngster was dominant on his way to the final round and shot 67, 66, 65 ahead of day four. He attributed much of his success to his playing partner, Jbe Kruger, who closed the event in a share of ninth at 13-under. “Playing with Jbe over the first three days was awesome. I think that was a big part of my taking this victory, because every day was like a casual round of golf – we were just knocking balls around and having fun – and that made it a really great week. Everything just came together,” he said.
Grace gave further recognition to his caddie, Zack Rasego, who was on the bag for Louis Oosthuizen when he took his historic win at the Open Championship in 2010.
“Zack really helped me out over the last couple of holes by refreshing my mind. He told me to relax and that I have won before and I should just relive that moment. It was the right advice – he was amazing throughout the week,” said Grace.
While the impact of his win sank in, Grace could scarcely forget the emotions, yet looked ahead with excitement. “I had goosebumps when the applause started as we walked up to the 18th. I will never forget that moment – walking up to the 18th green and knowing that it was my week. Everyone has been asking me whether I’m playing the Volvo Golf Champions tournament next week, and the answer was always no, but now it’s all yes.
SCORES
270 - Branden Grace 67 66 65 72
271 - Jamie Elson (ENG) 63 75 70 63
273 - David Drysdale (SCO) 65 72 69 67, Marc Warren (SCO) 66 69 70 68, Jaco Van Zyl 67 69 69 68, Trevor Fisher Jnr 68 68 69 68, Dawie Van der Walt 70 66 67 70, Michiel Bothma 68 66 68 71
274 - George Murray (SCO) 65 69 73 67, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 70 66 69 69, Robert Rock (ENG) 65 67 72 70, Jbe' Kruger 67 66 69 72
275 - Andrew Parr (CAN) 70 69 64 72
276 - Danny Willett (ENG) 69 67 68 72, George Coetzee 65 67 69 75
277 - Retief Goosen 66 67 71 73
278 - Lee Slattery (ENG) 72 67 69 70, Craig Lee (SCO) 64 74 70 70, Andrew Marshall (ENG) 70 69 71 68, Chris Swanepoel 68 69 73 68, Magnus A Carlsson (SWE) 70 66 70 72, Reinier Saxton (NED) 64 73 69 72, Joakim Lagergren (SWE) 70 67 68 73
279 - Lyle Rowe 66 69 74 70, Ulrich van den Berg 68 68 71 72, Julien Quesne (FRA) 65 72 70 72, Thomas Aiken 68 68 70 73, Warren Abery 66 72 68 73, Shaun Norris 65 69 71 74, Scott Jamieson (SCO) 68 67 70 74, Richard Finch (ENG) 66 66 69 78
280 - Adam Gee (ENG) 69 70 69 72, Daniel Gaunt (AUS) 69 67 73 71, Jean Hugo 68 67 72 73, Adilson Da Silva (BRA) 71 68 72 69, Hendrik Buhrmann 72 66 73 69
281 - Doug McGuigan 69 70 69 73, Sam Little (ENG) 68 71 70 72, Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 66 73 70 72, Jordi Garcia (ESP) 66 72 70 73, Divan van den Heever 67 70 73 71, Anthony Wall (ENG) 73 65 73 70, Joel Sjoholm (SWE) 65 74 73 69, Roope Kakko (FIN) 71 68 73 69, Justin Walters 69 70 73 69
282 - Jake Roos 69 68 72 73, Darren Fichardt 68 71 68 75, Damien McGrane (IRL) 63 71 76 72, Brandon Stone (AMA) 72 65 73 72, Brandon Pieters 66 71 73 72, Alastair Forsyth(SCO) 74 65 72 71
283 - Markus Brier (AUT) 71 68 70 74, Phillip Archer (ENG) 71 67 71 74, Peter Karmis 64 73 75 71
284 - Theunis Spangenberg 69 68 72 75, Ryan Tipping 68 69 72 75, Matthew Nixon (ENG) 70 67 70 77
285 - Anthony Snobeck (FRA) 72 67 74 72, Scott Pinckney (USA) 64 72 77 72
286 - Benjamin Hebert (FRA) 67 72 73 74, Keith Horne 72 67 74 73
287 - Sam Hutsby (ENG) 68 71 75 73
288 - Carlos Del Moral (ESP) 65 72 77 74, Steven Ferreira 74 65 78 71
289 - Thomas Norret (DEN) 66 71 77 75
290 - Desvonde Botes 65 69 78 78
293 - Bennie van der Merwe 67 72 81 73
