Following his victory at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, I fully expect Branden Grace to kick on and claim his first major championship title in 2018.
For the best part of five years, Grace has shown that he is a major champion in waiting.
In 2012, Grace enjoyed a tremendous breakout year on the European Tour. A maiden victory at the Joburg Open was followed the very next week by a playoff victory over South African stalwarts Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.
The George local then refuted any claims that his two weeks of brilliance were a flash in the pan when he captured the China Open in April. At the age of 24, the only players to win three times in a season on the European Tour at a younger age were Seve Ballesteros and Sandy Lyle. Good company indeed.
Grace then capped off a tremendous year with one final victory at the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland. Not only did these victories catapult South Africa’s brightest young prospect to 34th in the world by the end of the year, but they also underlined his ability to be successful in a variety of conditions and on different styles of golf course.
The 18 months which followed were a bit of a “come down” of sorts for him, however. A loss of form saw him tumble well outside the all-important top-50 in the world rankings.
As the saying goes, though “form is temporary, class is permanent”. Grace oozed class as he romped to a seven-shot victory over compatriot Louis Oosthuizen at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. Rejuvenated by the Leopard Creek win, the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation product won the Qatar Masters a few months later for his sixth Tour win. With five other top-10s to his credit in 2015, Grace easily locked up his second appearance for the Internationals at the Presidents Cup in South Korea.
It was at the Presidents Cup where Grace announced himself to the world in style. Teaming up with Oosthuizen in the Fourballs and Foursomes, the pair went 4-0 together before Grace put the seal on a phenomenal week from a personal point of view with a 2&1 victory over Matt Kuchar in the Singles. Even more impressive from Grace is the fact that only one International player before him (Shigeki Maruyama) had ever achieved the feat.
South Africa is waiting with baited breath for its first Major champion since Charl Schwartzel’s barnstorming victory at the 2011 Masters. Though Oosthuizen has had a couple of close calls, with playoff defeats at the 2012 Masters and 2015 Open, I believe it will be Grace who will secure our country’s 24th major victory.
Four top-5s and T-6 in his last 12 major appearances is not to be sneezed at. Were it not for an out of bounds tee shot at Chambers Bay in 2015, it may have been Grace’s name on the US Open Trophy and not Jordan Spieth’s.
Yet despite Grace having been in the hunt time and time again at the majors over the past three years, the skeptics remain. I heard a Golfing World writer say on their weekly podcast yesterday that because Grace has won all of his eight European titles in the October-April window history almost suggests that a victory in a major isn’t as close as we may think.
I completely disagree with this. While results suggest that the Masters holds the most remote chance for Grace (he has three missed cuts at Augusta in the last five years), there is no reason to think Grace can’t win any of the other three majors which fall between June and August.
Take the US Open for example. America’s national championship demands solid ball-striking and an ability to grind out pars. During the final round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge, Grace’s iron play was imperious. He hit all 18 greens, becoming the first winner to do so since 2014. Should his irons falter, Grace also has his short-game to fall back on. In the past season, Grace successfully scrambled from 10-20 yards 69.35% of the time which is handy enough
Moreover, Grace showed that his Chambers Bay showing was not a fluke. A T-4 behind winner Dustin Johnson in 2016 indicates that a win at the US Open isn’t too farfetched.
Whilst a win at the US Open isn’t out of the realms of possibility, I believe Grace’s best shot at major glory lies at the Open Championship. Having grown up in a part of South Africa that is often subjected to high winds, Grace has developed a low, piercing ball flight. This is a fantastic asset at all of the courses on the Open rota which are often buffeted by the sea breeze.
Grace’s victory at the Dunhill Links Championship undoubtedly stood him in good stead at future Opens. Playing two rounds at St Andrews and a round apiece at Kingsbarns and Carnoustie would have taught Grace the art of Links golf and the attributes one needs to have in order to be successful around those courses.
Though not immediately apparent, Grace looks increasingly more comfortable with each passing year at the Open. A four-under total helped Grace chalk up his best result in the Open, a T-6 this year at Royal Birkdale highlighted by a 62, the lowest score ever in a major championship.
Time will tell but this year’s result could be just the confidence boost Grace needs to hoist the Claret Jug.
With the Open Championship returning to Carnoustie next year, 2018 may just be Branden Grace’s year.
Photo: Golf.com
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