Branden Grace European Tour Player @Trafford Golf Centre Rick Shiels PGA Golf Coach www.rickshielsgolf.co.uk www.twitter.com/RickShielsPGA In January Branden won the Joburg Open which is 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, and again he is in the company of major winners as Ernie Els and Retief Goosen are the others to do so. He also became only the second player in European Tour history to win three times in the season after graduating from qualifying school.

Be the first to comment