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Branden Grace

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This article is about the South African professional golfer. For the Irish comedian-singer, see Brendan Grace.

Branden Grace
Grace at the 2016 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters
Personal information
Full nameBranden John Grace
NicknameGracie
Born (1988-05-20) 20 May 1988 (age 36)
Pretoria, South Africa
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight78 kg (172 lb; 12.3 st)
Sporting nationality South Africa
ResidenceGeorge, South Africa
Tequesta, Florida
Spouse
Nieke Coetzee
​
(m. 2016)​
Children1
Career
Turned professional2007
Current tour(s)European Tour
Asian Tour
Sunshine Tour
LIV Golf
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Challenge Tour
Professional wins15
Highest ranking10 (14 February 2016)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour2
European Tour9
Sunshine Tour6
LIV Golf1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT18: 2013
PGA Championship3rd: 2015
U.S. OpenT4: 2015
The Open ChampionshipT6: 2017
Achievements and awards
Sunshine Tour
Order of Merit winner		2012

Branden John Grace (born 20 May 1988) is a professional golfer from South Africa who currently plays for LIV Golf. He formerly played on the European Tour, the PGA Tour, and the Sunshine Tour. In 2012, he became the first player in the history of the European Tour to win his first four European Tour titles in the same year.[2]

On 22 July 2017, Grace became the first man to record a sub-63 score in a major when he shot a 62 (8 under par) in the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club.

Amateur career

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Grace was born in Pretoria. As an amateur he participated in the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation.[3] He won the South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship in 2006.[4] He turned professional in 2007.[5]

Professional career

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Early years

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Grace played on the Challenge Tour in 2007 which is Europe's second-tier tour. He only played in eight events but recorded two top-ten finishes.[6] In 2008 he played on the Challenge Tour and the Sunshine Tour. He finished 35th on the Challenge Tour's Order of Merit while recording three top-10 finishes including finishing in a tie for second at the Ypsilon Golf Challenge.[7] He then earned his European Tour card for 2009 through qualifying school.[8]

In 2009, Grace struggled on the European Tour but finished in a tie for second at the Africa Open on the Sunshine Tour, behind winner Retief Goosen. He finished in the top 10 in seven of the nine Sunshine Tour events that he played in en route to an 11th-place finish on the Order of Merit. He picked up his first professional win in 2010 at the Coca-Cola Charity Championship on the Sunshine Tour. In 2011 he finished 24th on the Challenge Tour's Order of Merit while recording five top-10 finishes. He also finished 7th on the Sunshine Tour's Order of Merit. He went back to qualifying school to earn his European Tour card for 2012.

2012: Breakthrough season

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In January he won the Joburg Open which was co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Sunshine Tour. He won by one stroke over Jamie Elson. He then won the Volvo Golf Champions the following week to make it back-to-back European Tour victories, beating his veteran compatriots Ernie Els and Retief Goosen in a playoff with a birdie on the first hole. Grace became the first player since Fred Couples in 1995 to follow his first victory with another consecutively. As a result, Grace moved inside the world's top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

On 22 April, Grace won his third tournament on the European Tour when he won the Volvo China Open. Only two players have won three European Tour titles in a single season at a younger age, Seve Ballesteros did it three times between 1977 and 1980, and Sandy Lyle did it in 1979. Grace also became only the third South African to win three times in a single season, joining Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. He also became only the second player in European Tour history to win three times in the season after graduating from qualifying school.[9]

In September, Grace captured his third Sunshine Tour title at the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final. On 7 October, Grace won his fourth European Tour title and fifth worldwide title of 2012 at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.[2] He broke the scoring record at the tournament to win at 22 under par, two strokes clear of Thorbjørn Olesen. His record total included a European Tour record equalling 60 at Kingsbarns during the first round. Grace moved to third in the Race to Dubai and also to a career high 37th in the Official World Golf Ranking. Grace capped off a highly successful 2012 season by winning the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit.

2013–2016

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Grace had a less successful season in 2013, finishing 18th on the European Tour's Race to Dubai,[6] his best finish being second in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open where he lost in a sudden-death playoff to Phil Mickelson.[10] During 2014, Grace continued his high showings on the European Tour Race to Dubai. Despite a second winless season, Grace finished 31st in the year end standings,[6] with a best performance of second in the Volvo Golf Champions.[11]

In December 2014, as part of the 2015 European Tour season, Grace won his fifth European Tour event, and first since 2012, at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. Grace won the event by 7 strokes from fellow South African Louis Oosthuizen.[12] Grace soon followed this up with his second win of the 2015 season with a win at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in January 2015.[13] The following month, he won again on home soil at the Dimension Data Pro-Am on the Sunshine Tour, with a two stroke victory over Keith Horne.

At the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, Grace held a share of the lead through 54 holes. On Sunday, he was in the penultimate group with eventual champion, Jordan Spieth, and was still tied for the lead heading to the 16th hole, until he blocked his drive to the right and out of bounds, forcing him to re-tee and eventually leading to a double bogey to spiral him out of contention to win. He finished with a final round 71, and a tied for 4th position. At the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits Grace placed in the top-five for the second time in his career at the major championships, when he placed third.

At the 2015 Presidents Cup, Grace would have a perfect week. On the opening day (Thursday foursomes), Grace teamed with fellow South African Louis Oosthuizen to defeat Matt Kuchar and Patrick Reed in comfortable fashion 3 and 2. On Day 2 (Friday fourball), Grace would again team with Oosthuizen in a dominant performance against world number one Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson winning 4 and 3. On Day 3 (Saturday morning foursomes), Grace for a third time teaming with Oosthuizen, won in another comfortable match 3 and 2, defeating the team of Reed and Rickie Fowler. Later in the day during (Saturday afternoon fourball), teaming with Oosthuizen a fourth and final time, the team won its fourth match against the undefeated duo of Bubba Watson and J. B. Holmes. The fourball match being the only time Grace would see the 18th hole all week, his team winning 1 up at the last. On the final day of the event (Sunday singles), Grace played against Kuchar and started out red hot, dominating Kuchar on the front nine. Kuchar fought back from several holes down before losing 2 and 1. Grace's perfect record of 5–0–0 was the fifth such occasion in Presidents Cup history and just the second time for the International side.

On 30 January 2016, Grace defended his Commercial Bank Qatar Masters title for his seventh victory on the European Tour. He finished two strokes ahead of Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Thorbjørn Olesen, after shooting a three under round of 69 on a day when he started two back of leader Paul Lawrie. Grace became the first player to successfully defend the tournament.

Grace was able to play on the PGA Tour in 2016, in the "Top 125 Non-member" category. This followed his successes in the 2015 majors and other PGA-recognised tournaments. On 17 April 2016, Grace claimed his first PGA Tour victory at the RBC Heritage after shooting a final round 66.

2017

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On 22 July, Grace shot a 62 in the third round of the Open Championship at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, setting a record for the lowest round in a men's major championship.[14]

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 4 3 5 4 5 4
Grace's score −1 −1 −1 −2 −3 −3 −3 −4 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −6 −6 −7 −8 −8
Birdie

In November 2017, Grace won the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, North West province, South Africa. This victory was worth $1,166,660.[5]

2019

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In January 2019, Grace started working with Scottish caddie, Craig Connelly.[15]

2020

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In January, Grace fired a final round 62 to win the South African Open. The victory capped a unique milestone for Grace. Previously in his career, he had won every significant tournament in South African golf: Joburg Open (2012), Alfred Dunhill Championship (2014), the Dimension Data Pro-Am (2015) and the Nedbank Golf Challenge (2017). The national Open was the only one missing.[16]

2021

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In February, Grace finished eagle-birdie at the Puerto Rico Open to claim his second PGA Tour victory.[17] In August, Grace tied for the lead with five other players after 72 holes at the Wyndham Championship. Kevin Kisner took the title in the playoff.[18]

Amateur wins

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  • 2006 SANLAM SA Amateur Stroke play Championship[19]

Professional wins (15)

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PGA Tour wins (2)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 17 Apr 2016 RBC Heritage −9 (66-74-69-66=275) 2 strokes England Luke Donald, Scotland Russell Knox
2 28 Feb 2021 Puerto Rico Open −19 (67-68-68-66=269) 1 stroke Venezuela Jhonattan Vegas

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2021 Wyndham Championship South Korea Kim Si-woo, United States Kevin Kisner,
United States Kevin Na, Australia Adam Scott,
Canada Roger Sloan 		Kisner won with birdie on second extra hole

European Tour wins (9)

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Legend
Rolex Series (1)
Other European Tour (8)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 15 Jan 2012 Joburg Open1 −17 (67-66-65-72=270) 1 stroke England Jamie Elson
2 22 Jan 2012 Volvo Golf Champions −12 (68-66-75-71=280) Playoff South Africa Ernie Els, South Africa Retief Goosen
3 22 Apr 2012 Volvo China Open2 −21 (67-67-64-69=267) 3 strokes Belgium Nicolas Colsaerts
4 7 Oct 2012 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship −22 (60-67-69-70=266) 2 strokes Denmark Thorbjørn Olesen
5 14 Dec 2014
(2015 season) 		Alfred Dunhill Championship1 −20 (62-66-72-68=268) 7 strokes South Africa Louis Oosthuizen
6 24 Jan 2015 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters −19 (67-68-68-66=269) 1 stroke Scotland Marc Warren
7 30 Jan 2016 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters (2) −14 (70-67-68-69=274) 2 strokes Spain Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Denmark Thorbjørn Olesen
8 12 Nov 2017 Nedbank Golf Challenge −11 (68-75-68-66=277) 1 stroke Scotland Scott Jamieson
9 12 Jan 2020 South African Open1 −21 (64-70-67-62=263) 3 strokes South Africa Louis Oosthuizen

1Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the OneAsia Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2012 Volvo Golf Champions South Africa Ernie Els, South Africa Retief Goosen Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2013 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open United States Phil Mickelson Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Sunshine Tour wins (6)

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Legend
Flagship events (1)
Other Sunshine Tour (5)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 18 Nov 2010 Coca-Cola Charity Championship −7 (68-71-70=209) 2 strokes South Africa Ulrich van den Berg, South Africa Justin Walters
2 15 Jan 2012 Joburg Open1 −17 (67-66-65-72=270) 1 stroke England Jamie Elson
3 28 Sep 2012 Vodacom Origins of Golf Final −10 (69-72-68=209) 3 strokes South Africa Allan Versfeld
4 14 Dec 2014 Alfred Dunhill Championship1 −20 (62-66-72-68=268) 7 strokes South Africa Louis Oosthuizen
5 22 Feb 2015 Dimension Data Pro-Am −11 (71-68-69-70=278) 2 strokes South Africa Keith Horne
6 12 Jan 2020 South African Open1 −21 (64-70-67-62=263) 3 strokes South Africa Louis Oosthuizen

1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

LIV Golf League wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 2 Jul 2022 LIV Golf Invitational Portland −13 (69-69-65=203) 2 strokes Mexico Carlos Ortiz

LIV Golf League playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2023 LIV Golf Tulsa United States Dustin Johnson, Australia Cameron Smith Johnson won with birdie on first extra hole

Playoff record

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Challenge Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2008 Ypsilon Golf Challenge England Seve Benson, Spain Rafa Cabrera-Bello Benson won with birdie on third extra hole
Grace eliminated by birdie on second hole

Results in major championships

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Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament T18 CUT CUT CUT T27 T24
U.S. Open T51 CUT T4 T5 T50 T25
The Open Championship T43 T77 T64 T36 T20 T72 T6 CUT
PGA Championship CUT CUT T46 3 T4 CUT T27
Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Masters Tournament T58
PGA Championship CUT T38 CUT
U.S. Open CUT CUT T7 CUT
The Open Championship T51 NT CUT CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 4
PGA Championship 0 0 1 2 2 2 10 5
U.S. Open 0 0 0 2 3 4 10 6
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 1 2 11 8
Totals 0 0 1 4 6 10 38 23
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2016 U.S. Open – 2017 Open Championship)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (six times)

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
The Players Championship T48 T42 T57 T48 T46 T72 C CUT T53
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Cancelled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

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Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.

Tournament 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Championship T35 T49 T40 54 T23 T32 T30 T33 T42
Match Play R64 R64 R16 T18 T39 T29 R16 NT1
Invitational T36 T65 T23 T17 T10 T28 T63
Champions T39 T5 T30 T15 T41 NT1

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied

Team appearances

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Professional

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 07 2016 Ending 14 Feb 2016" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  2. ^ a b "With This Win – Branden Grace". PGA European Tour. 7 October 2012.
  3. ^ Kaspriske, Ron (February 2013). "Think Young, Play Hard: Branden Grace". Golf Digest.
  4. ^ "Branden Grace takes SANLAM SA Amateur Strokeplay". South African Golf Association. 8 March 2006. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Branden Grace player profile". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  6. ^ a b c "Branden Grace Career Record". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Benson claims second Challenge Tour title". PGA European Tour. 19 March 2010.
  8. ^ "Four Scots secure Euro Tour cards". BBC Sport. 19 November 2008.
  9. ^ "Amazing Grace Creates History in China". PGA European Tour. 22 April 2012.
  10. ^ "Phil Mickelson wins first individual title in Britain at Scottish Open". The Guardian. London. Press Association. 14 July 2013.
  11. ^ "Branden Grace – Profile". PGA Tour.
  12. ^ "Grace wins Alfred Dunhill Championship by 7 shots". The Times of India. Mumbai. 14 December 2014.
  13. ^ "Qatar Masters: Branden Grace completes one-shot win in Doha". BBC Sport. 24 January 2015.
  14. ^ Harig, Bob (22 July 2017). "Branden Grace shoots first 62 in a major". ESPN. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Top new bag for Scottish caddie Connelly". bunkered. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  16. ^ Herrington, Ryan (12 January 2020). "A Sunday 62 gives Branden Grace the South African Open title and a unique career milestone". Golf World. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  17. ^ Woodard, Adam (28 February 2021). "Just weeks after his father's death, Branden Grace finishes eagle-birdie to win Puerto Rico Open". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Kevin Kisner wins record-tying 6-man playoff at Wyndham Championship". ESPN. Associated Press. 15 August 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  19. ^ "Branden Grace takes SANLAM SA Amateur Strokeplay". South African Golf Association. 8 March 2006. Archived from the original on 26 September 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
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