Branden Grace rode a rollercoaster round on Friday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open as he briefly moved into the lead before finishing two back of Rickie Fowler.
The South African, playing his first Waste Management Phoenix Open, thought he knew a thing or two about loud crowds – he is a three-time Presidents Cup star – until his second loop around TPC Scottsdale.
‘There is nothing like the 16th, yeah, I must say,’ he said after round two.
‘There’s no event that gets close. Even the majors—obviously, there’s a big hype, but people are a little bit more on the safe side, if I can call it that, with how much noise they make and how crazy they get.
‘But I think it’s been awesome,’ he added. ‘I thought it can’t be that bad today. This morning, when I was warming up, 7 o’clock when those gates opened, the guys were running and running to that 16th, screaming and going crazy already. I mean you knew it was going to be a loud one today. And obviously making a birdie there was pretty awesome and everybody going nuts.’
After a 67 to start on Thursday, the South African moved to -5 with a two-putt birdie on the fifth before he got the crowd really going two holes later.
New caddie Craig Connelly switched him one club up on the par-3 seventh and the pair then celebrated as he dunked his first PGA TOUR ace and third career hole-in-one.
‘I felt really good over the shot, hit a great shot and the guys behind the hole started jumping up before the ball actually went in,’ Grace said. ‘When people start jumping up, you know it’s there or thereabouts. Obviously, what a nice place to have one.’
This wasn’t the only fireworks as he chipped in for eagle on the 13th and peeled off a trio of birdies to offset the damage of a double drop on the par 4 11th.
A birdie on golf’s loudest hole …
To extend the lead!@BrandenGrace is going strong @WMPhoenixOpen. #LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/1Eh08kzQgp
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 1, 2019
The eight-time European Tour winner sits two back of Rickie Fowler, with Justin Thomas sandwiched between them.
In total, Grace’s round included an ace, another eagle, a double drop and five birdies. Safe to say, he was a crowd entertainer at golf’s biggest party.
