Branden Grace’s impressive victory in the Joburg Open at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on Sunday made it a wonderful fortnight for former members of the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation.

Former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen won last weekend’s Africa Open in East London, but Grace’s one-shot triumph in Johannesburg was a breakthrough victory for one of South Africa’s most talented youngsters.

Els himself was impressed.

“I’m very proud of him. It’s been an outstanding year for the foundation – last week it was Louis winning and now Branden. I couldn’t have asked for more.

“It’s great to see former members doing so well and their performances will definitely motivate the current members of the foundation,” Els said from his Herold’s Bay holiday home.

The victory will turn Grace from a bright South African prospect into an up-and-coming star of the European Tour, something that the 23-year-old has threatened to do for some time.

Grace’s last foray into Europe – in 2009 – left him rather battered and bruised but, after regaining his card at Q-School last month, he can now kick back and enjoy an exemption until the end of 2013.

“It’s awesome, after just getting my card now I have this exemption. The win is going to get me into a lot of events I never thought I’d be playing in,” Grace said after his maiden European Tour win.

What made Grace’s win even more impressive was that he achieved it by finishing with nine straight pars – pointing to a level head while all the other frontrunners were scrambling around like victims of an anthrax attack.

The other two members of his three-ball – George Coetsee and Richard Finch – crashed to rounds of 75 and 78 respectively.

“I played superbly today, my approach shots were amazing. I couldn’t dream of better approach shots than what I played on the last five holes,” Grace said. “I told myself first of all not to mess up and then to just keep giving myself chances.”

While Finch struggled on the greens and allowed it to be his funeral (he three-putted three times on the front nine), Grace did not let an uncooperative putter get to him.

“The opportunities were there, but I struggled to get the speed and line together. The greens were immaculate, but if you were a little bit off, you ended four feet away. I went out there today thinking the greens would be quicker, but as soon as you really want to make a putt, you hit it a bit too hard and it goes four feet past. The next one you lag a bit and it ends four feet short.

“But a big thanks to Zack [Rasego, his caddy], who told me I hadn’t hit a bad putt all day and eventually my pace came good,” Grace said.

There was an atmosphere of nervous tension at the start as Grace teed off with Coetzee and Finch just three shots behind, but the George-based golfer said he felt good, even at the turn when Jamie Elson eagled his 18th hole to close to within a shot of Grace.

“I actually thought I’d be more nervous. I didn’t really look at the leaderboard because I knew it would be up to my performance. I stuck to my game plan and kept hitting good shot after good shot,” Grace said.

Grace will now be playing in the lucrative, winners’-only Volvo Golf Champions event close to home at Fancourt starting on Thursday and is looking forward to making more of an impact in Europe now that he is older and wiser.

“It’s an unbelievable, amazing feeling, the win has been coming a long time and I really wanted to play in the Volvo.

“The last time I played in Europe, I wasn’t ready. My golf was good, but it wasn’t great. But I’ve grown so much in the last couple of years and taking a couple of steps back was maybe the best thing to happen to me,” Grace said.

South African Branden Grace played with admirable calm to win his first European Tour title when he won the Joburg Open at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club by one stroke with a final round of level-par 72.
Grace, playing his 50th European Tour event, finished on 17-under-par, one stroke ahead of Briton Jamie Elson, who catapulted himself into second place with an outstanding nine-under-par 63.
The 23-year-old Grace began the final round with a three-stroke lead over compatriot George Coetzee and Briton Richard Finch. They were all playing in the final three-ball after weather delays on the first three days of the 1.3 million euro co-sanctioned event.
But Finch crashed to a six-over-par 78, three-putting three times on the front nine, to end nine shots off the pace.
Coetzee closed to within two shots of the lead with birdies on the fifth, sixth and eighth holes, but the burly South African faded on the back nine after a double-bogey on the par-four 13th when he hooked his approach shot into the water. The world number 80 finished with a 75 to close on 11-under-par in a tie for 14th.
Grace, a former member of the Ernie Els Foundation, put together nine straight pars on the back nine to hold off Elson and six golfers who finished in a tie for third on 14-under – Scots David Drysdale and Marc Warren, and South Africans Jaco van Zyl, Trevor Fisher junior, Dawie van der Walt and Michiel Bothma, his cousin.
The pressure of leading seemed to affect Grace at the start of the final round as he bogeyed the par-three second hole. But a wonderful approach shot to within eight feet on the 389-metre par-four ninth hole set up a birdie that seemed to settle the former South African amateur strokeplay champion.
“I played superbly today, my approach shots were amazing. I stuck to my game-plan and kept hitting good shot after good shot. I couldn’t dream of better approach shots than what I played on the last five holes,” Grace told reporters after his triumph, which earned him 206 050 euro.
Grace’s back nine was the epitome of solid golf under pressure as he made no mistakes off the tee and was superb with his irons. The margin of victory would have been greater if Grace had not narrowly missed a number of birdie putts.
“The opportunities were there, but I told myself first of all not to mess up and then to just keep giving myself chances. I struggled to get the lines exactly right, the greens were immaculate, but if you were a little bit off, you ended four feet away.
“Obviously it’s awesome to win, it’s been coming a long time and it’s really nice to have the first win back home. The hard work has paid off and my consistency has paid off,” Grace, who earlier this week won the Gary Player Trophy for best stroke average on the Sunshine Tour, said.

Branden Grace is on line for his first European Tour triumph as he went into the final round of the Joburg Open with a three-shot lead at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on Sunday.

Having completed his third round with a seven-under-par 65 on Sunday morning, birdieing five of the last six holes, Grace leapt to 17-under-par, with his nearest challengers being Englishman Richard Finch and fellow South African George Coetzee on 14-under.

The 23-year-old Grace understandably feels on top of his game after rounds of 67 and 65 on the East Course, sandwiching a 66 on the West Course.

“I’m hitting the ball well and I’m putting really nicely, which is a bonus for me at this stage. I’m going to stick to my game-plan and just keep doing what I’ve been doing. I’m going to try to do the same thing I’ve been doing the whole week.

“You just need to give yourself birdie opportunities. I feel like I’m playing well and the putting is there, so it’s nice to give yourself chances with the knowledge that you’re going to make some,” Grace said after his third round.

Grace had to complete the 16th, 17th and 18th holes on Sunday morning and he birdied the par-four and the par-five to cement his position atop the leaderboard.

“It was a quick finish, nice and fresh and early this morning, it worked out today. I would take that start any day. I’m feeling good, happy to be here and I’m playing well at the moment, so I’ll just take it from here,” he said.

There should not be any weather interruptions on the final day, but Grace has been philosophical about all the delays and twice having to complete rounds on the next day.

“I don’t think there is anything you can do about it. Nature calls and you just have to keep your head down and keep going,” he said.

Grace’s cousin, Michiel Bothma, was another to make the most of his early return to the course on Sunday, chipping in on the 18th hole to make eagle and jump to 13-under-par.

It had been an anxious start to the day for Bothma, who came off the course on the third evening with an eight-foot putt for par on the 17th hole waiting for him.

“I drained it this morning and we said that if we could finish par-eagle it would be a fantastic start to the day, and it happened, what we were hoping for the whole of last night!”

The 38-year-old will be hoping to add to his five Sunshine Tour titles and will be praying his putter comes to the party far more than it did in the third round.

“I made a quick start yesterday, getting to 11-under, but then I parred everything and lipped so many putts. I just kept putting a little lag on the putts and when we had the line, then we couldn’t get the pace right,” Bothma said.

For Dawie van der Walt, it’s a case of hoping the golfers ahead of him on the leaderboard don’t slip up on Sunday morning when they complete their third rounds in the Joburg Open at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club.

Van der Walt is the joint clubhouse-leader with Canadian Andrew Parr after his brilliant five-under-par 67 lifted him to 12-under-par overall. Late showers then brought an early end to a day which began with more than half of the field finishing their second rounds and ended with leaders Branden Grace and Richard Finch, tied on 15-under, and third-placed George Coetzee (-14) yet to complete their third rounds.

But Van der Walt, citing his preference for attacking from behind, said he would be happy if that trio remain ahead of him going into the final round.

“I don’t want to be in the last group with all the people watching … maybe third from last will be great! I’ll be firing at the pins regardless. My golf seems to get better if I have to come from behind. I like to be aggressive, maybe I’m too aggressive,” Van der Walt said.

Although the 28-year-old lacks a Sunshine Tour win on his resume’, he has shown his ability to come from behind before, most notably when he shot a nine-under-par 63 to force a playoff in the BMG Classic at Glendower Golf Club last October. The Paarl-based golfer ultimately lost to James Kamte, but it remains the best result of his career.

The sturdy Van der Walt expects the final round to be as tough a challenge as the third round on the East Course, especially in terms of the pin-placements.

“I play here a lot and I don’t know how they can make the course much tougher, they had all the hard flags out there today.

“The flag at 10 was in a place I’ve never seen before, on a slope. You couldn’t miss anywhere left and anywhere past the pin left you with a scary putt. The fourth and 15th holes are also in the hardest places.

“It’s hard to hit it close, you take a big chance if you try. If you short-side yourself, it’s very difficult to make par,” Van der Walt said.