There are few South African golfers who can claim to have tasted the type of success Branden Grace has tasted on the golf course.
However, the 29-year-old South African star still yearns for success in one of the majors, and this week’s Masters at Augusta National Golf Club will afford him yet another opportunity to don the green jacket.
Read: South African tee off times
Grace’s success in global golf is undisputed, but since he made his debut at Augusta in 2013 and finishing in a share of 18th place, he has missed the cut in all subsequent events. The 2016 season would have been a heartbreaker for Grace because of the missed cut, but his resilience shone through when he went on from that tournament to win the RCB Heritage on the PGA Tour the following week. There, he defeated England’s Luke Donald and Scotland’s Russell Knox by two strokes.
And it was at Hilton Head where he won last year that he put his finger on what it is that brings him victories. ‘I wasn’t really thinking I was playing that bad golf leading up to this event,’ he said. ‘The putter has been a little cold.’
Putting is the key at Augusta, but Grace brings an approach to the tournament that is built on a risk-reward calculation. ‘I play an aggressive game of golf,’ he said. ‘I hate playing safe and backing off.’ And when that game is on, and his putter gets hot, he has every chance of being in contention.
Grace became the first player in history to win his first four European Tour titles in the same year in 2012 and that, coupled with his top-five finishes in the US Open and the PGA Championship in 2015 and 2016, makes him an opponent never to be underestimated.
He goes into this week as the highest-ranked South African at 20th on the rankings and lying 45th on the Race to Dubai, and that should aid his confidence.
He played nine events on the PGA Tour this season, with two top 25 finishes.
Photo: Harry How/Getty Images
