2012 Volvo Golf Champions
января 23, 2012Branden Grace has completed a remarkable two weeks of golf in his homeland of South Africa by taking out the Volvo Golf Champions event one week after claiming his maiden European Tour title at the Joburg Open.
Grace birdied the first extra hole of a playoff against Retief Goosen and Ernie Els to win what is effectively the European Tour’s Champion of Champions event and take the lead in the 2012 Race to Dubai.
Grace began the final day tied in the lead with Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts but, when both dropped shots early, it would be Goosen’s two early birdies that would give him the lead. The two time US Open Champion would then falter over the closing stages of the opening nine holes before a strong finish got him into the playoff.
Others would also stake their claim early including the 46 year old Jose Maria Olazabal who birdied the opening two holes to briefly join the lead. Olazabal would eventually finish with an even par 73 and an encouraging 6th place finish.
Ahead on the golf course Ernie Els was piecing together a fine final round. His 67 was the best of the day and included a crucial birdie at the last to set the target for those behind on the golf course.
Playing the final hole the last pairing of Colsaerts and Grace needed to birdie the par five to move ahead of Goosen and Els but when Grace lost a winning opportunity when missing a makeable birdie putt and Colsaerts took bogey it would be a three way playoff between Grace, Goosen and Els.
Grace birdied the first extra hole when he two putted from long range and the 23 year old had quickly established himself as a star of European golf. He has gone from virtual obscurity two weeks ago to a young man destined for even greater things.
Grace’s world ranking two weeks ago was 258. After his victory last week in Johannesburg it dropped to 164. Given the strength in this week’s field he will earn a lot more ranking points and will find himself well inside the top 100 when the revised rankings are released later today.
“It’s been unbelievable,” said Grace referring to his success. “It really is a dream come true and a life changing two weeks which will open a lot of doors. It is great that the hard work has paid off.
“It will take a while to sink in and it might not be until I take a couple of weeks off that it will truly do so.”
Matthew Zions was the only Australian in the field and he finished 26th in the 35 man line-up.
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