Branden Grace ensured that a son of African soil ended a 10-year drought to win Africa’s Major, the Nedbank Golf Challenge, writes GARY LEMKE in Compleat Golfer.
One of the oldest cliches it might be, but it truly was amazing to see Grace charge through the field to become the first South African to win the Nedbank Golf Challenge in a decade.
The 29-year-old might have left it late to pick up his first title of 2017 – and his eighth overall on the European Tour – when he made a spectacular birdie at the short 16th in the final round at the Gary Player Country Club to escape the clutches of Scott Jamieson and Victor Dubuisson on a thrilling final day.
His 66, matched against their 70s while playing in the final threeball of the tournament, was one of the more brilliant efforts we have seen on a South African golf course in years.
Yes, Li Haotong’s final-day 64 was the lowest round of the week at Sun City, but to produce a bogey-free 66, as a baying home crowd cheered his every shot, was simply the stuff of champions – which Grace undoubtedly is.
Pressure? What pressure? It would undeniably have been far easier for a foreigner to come through on the day without the weight of a nation on his shoulders, especially given that sports-mad South Africans had woken up on the Sunday of the final round in a dejected mood. On the Friday night Bafana Bafana had lost 2-0 to Senegal and seen their hopes of being at the 2018 Fifa World Cup extinguished, while on the Saturday evening the Springboks had been given a record 38-3 drubbing by Ireland in Dublin.
But who better to turn the mood around than a man who had caught the eye of none other than Tiger Woods back at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, in 2012?
‘I’d hit my tee shot into the fairway bunker on the right,’ Grace told golf writer Michael Vlismas last year. ‘It was one of those where the ball was pretty close to the lip. The only realistic option I had was to take a sand-wedge and hit it out. But at that stage I was about five or six under par and when you get on a roll like that, you think you can do anything.
‘My caddie, Zack [Rasego], told me to just chip it out. But I told him to give me what I think was my 7- or 8-iron. Tiger then walked over to watch me play the shot. I hit it out to 12 feet from the hole. He said it was one of the best shots he’d ever seen. He actually asked me how I played it. I was like, “Are you joking? You’ve hit shots like this to win Majors and now you’re asking me how I did that at a normal tournament.” It’s moments like that I’ll never forget.’
Sunday, 12 November 2017 has now become one of those moments the whole of South Africa won’t forget.
Grace calls himself a ‘streaky player’ and when he’s in the mood, there is no one who can live with him. That men’s Major record of 62 in the third round of this year’s Open Championship is just another example that when he is zoned in, he’s untouchable.
The irony is that 2017 hadn’t been altogether kind to the South African until now. He was in danger of not winning a tournament for the first time since 2013, and having ended 2016 ranked 17 in the world, he had tumbled to No 44 before arriving at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
There was also the danger that he wanted to win ‘Africa’s Major’ too much, and once you’re desperate for that first victory, the more it can become a millstone around the neck.
‘I think it was probably the loudest applause I’ve received coming up the 18th hole,’ said the visibly relieved champion after accepting the famous crystal trophy. ‘This is awesome. This is the one event that, as a South African, you want to win. It’s Africa’s Major for a reason and what a special place it is.
‘There’s a lot of history and a lot of great winners on the trophy, and I’m very glad to be able to put my name on it too.’
Now that Africa’s Major has been ticked off – and remember, like the American trailblazers Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka, Grace is still in his twenties – it’s surely only a matter of time before he finds his name on one of the official four Majors – The Masters, the US Open, The Open Championship and The PGA Championship.
It might also be an omen that the last South African winner of the Nedbank Golf Challenge was Trevor Immelman in 2007, who went on to win the 2008 Masters. Other South African names on this trophy include Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. They, too, converted a victory at Africa’s Major to one of the other four. It really does feel like a matter of when, not if.
Grace has always had untapped talent but it took some words from Els before the 2015 US Open to give him hope and clarity. ‘When Ernie says something you need to listen and make the most of it. The first time I played well on a links course he was the first to say I’d win an Open. It’s nice to hear that from a guy who has achieved what a lot of guys can only dream of. We had a chat before the 2015 US Open and he said to me, “Your golf is great and it’s your time; I know you can do it.” That makes you believe.’
Now, not only does Grace believe, but so does the rest of the golfing world know it too. He can be the next great South African champion.
‘I’m a grinder, a fighter,’ he said after a third-round 68 had lifted him into third spot, three shots behind Jamieson and two behind Dubuisson. ‘Yesterday [second-round 75] wasn’t the best of stuff. The first nine didn’t really feel too good. Mind over matter, a little bit of that. I told myself that if I can get it to under par, I’m still in this tournament. And I knew I had to grind a good score out today.
‘The wind was not a big factor today [third round], but it’s swirling a little bit so it’s hard to commit, and trust yourself and what you’re doing. Hopefully I can get a couple of good birdies tomorrow and be in with a shot.’
And on the fateful Sunday he stuck to his guns. It was as if his name was written in the stars. As he marched purposefully on to the 1st tee, he went straight to tournament host Gary Player, who stood up from his seat and gave the young man a strong shake of the hand – almost as if he had passed on a baton in that moment.
Keeping bogeys off the card is the key to success at Sun City and it’s also a course where patience is required. Then, when the door opened, as it did on the 16th, Grace walked through it, draining a long birdie putt on that par three as the temporary stands shook under the celebrations of the home crowd. Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and all that.
‘I just knew I had to stay patient and had to take my chances when they came,’ he said. ‘I missed a couple of short ones but the big key was 16.’
The 82-year-old Player is famous for telling people that ‘there are gorillas out there who can drive the ball 350 yards. And when big athletes take up golf, they’ll be driving the ball 400 yards.’ Player’s mantra is that it’s all about the quality of a golfer’s short game – and Grace was on song in that department at Sun City.
He too understands the importance of making the putts. ‘In the past I would work so hard on getting the ball close to the hole and then miss the putt. I’m still practising hard on the irons, but I know the putting is important. If you can hole those big putts it’s mind-boggling what you can achieve. If you look at Jordan Spieth, I don’t think he’s the best ball striker out there but he knows how to get it done. That’s what it takes in this game – making putts when you need to.’
And that 30-foot birdie putt on the 16th underlined that statement.
The putt that confirmed victory on the 72nd hole was almost anti-climactic by comparison, as Grace left himself a tap-in for par. It all felt so good. ‘Being sprayed with champagne … being able to be known as a winner of the Nedbank Golf Challenge,’ he said. ‘And now it makes me want to win it again another few times.’
Of course, there is another major event on the calendar in 2018. He and his wife Nieke heard the day before the tournament’s first round that they are expecting a baby boy. One of the reasons Grace declined the opportunity to represent South Africa at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games was because of fears over the Zika virus and family comes before golf for the champion.
‘Nieke and I met a couple of years ago and I’m happy on and off the course. That’s the big key. I’m at the point where I’ve realised golf is what I’m good at, but there are lots of things outside golf too. I think when you realise that, you start enjoying the game more,’ he says.
So, two boxes ticked all in the matter of a week – 2018 is going to be a heck of a year for Grace. The golfing world has been put on red alert.
Final #NGC2017 leaderboard:
1. Branden Grace (SA) 68 75 68 66 277
2. Scott Jamieson (Sco) 68 73 67 70 278
3. Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 68 70 71 70 279
4. Li Haotong (CHN) 70 77 70 64 281
5. Martin Kaymer (Ger) 73 69 69 71 282
T6. Darren Fichardt (SA) 71 69 75 68 283 Lee Westwood (Eng) 70 70 74 69 283
T8. Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) 70 77 68 69 284 Louis Oosthuizen (SA) 71 73 70 70 284
T10. Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) 73 74 67 71 285 Graeme Storm (Eng) 69 75 71 70 285
T12. Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 71 78 69 68 286 Shane Lowry (NIR) 72 71 72 71 286 Joost Luiten (Ned) 71 72 72 71 286 Alex Noren (Swe) 69 72 75 70 286 Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 71 75 73 67 286 Haydn Porteous (SA) 73 73 67 73 286 Charl Schwartzel (SA) 69 73 72 72 286
– This article first appeared in the December issue of Compleat Golfer
