Branden Grace

Amateur career

In 1988, Grace was born in Pretoria. As an amateur he participated in the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation. He won the South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship in 2006.

Professional career

Challenge Tour

In 2007, Grace turned professional. That year, Grace played on the Challenge Tour which is Europe's second-tier tour. He only played in eight events but recorded two top-ten finishes. 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. He then earned his European Tour card for 2009 through qualifying school.

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.

European Tour

In January 2012, 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.

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. 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.

Grace had a less successful season in 2013, finishing 18th on the European Tour's Race to Dubai, 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,

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. 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. 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.

PGA Tour

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.

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.

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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.

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

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.

In February, Grace finished eagle-birdie at the Puerto Rico Open to claim his second PGA Tour victory. 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.

LIV Golf

In 2022, Grace joined LIV Golf. That year, he won the LIV Golf Invitational Portland. In 2023, he lost a playoff at the LIV Golf Tulsa to Dustin Johnson.

Amateur wins

• 2006 SANLAM SA Amateur Stroke play Championship

Professional wins (15)

PGA Tour wins (2)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

European Tour wins (9)

1Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour

2Co-sanctioned by the OneAsia Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–1)

Sunshine Tour wins (6)

1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

LIV Golf League wins (1)

LIV Golf League playoff record (0–1)

Playoff record

Challenge Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

CUT = missed the half-way cut

"T" = tied

NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

• 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

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

Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play

NT = No tournament

"T" = Tied

Team appearances

Professional

• Presidents Cup (representing the International team): 2013, 2015, 2017
• World Cup (representing South Africa): 2013

References

References

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