THREE SCOTS IN TOP TEN AS GRACE WINS JOBURG OPEN

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Branden Grace was left to revel in how sweet the sound of victory is after winning his first European Tour title at the Joburg Open today.
The 23-year-old Qualifying School graduate from South Africa came through many dangers, toils and snares at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club to sign for a final round 72 and 17 under total.
That was one better than Jamie Elson, who a month after holing a 40 foot birdie putt on the final green at Qualifying School to secure a European Tour card, almost snatched a first victory with a 30 foot eagle putt at the 18th.
The 30 year old Englishman had earlier enjoyed six birdies in his first eight holes, and signed for a best-of the-day 63.
Scots Marc Warren and David Drysdale tied for third place on 273, Warren finishing with a 68 and Drysdale with a 67.
George Murray tied for ninth place with a 67 for 274. Three Scots in the top 10 of a European Tour event! Things are looking up.
With none of the players in the leading groups making any significant moves in the final round, Grace was able to secure victory with 16 pars, a solitary bogey and one birdie.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Grace. “It’s nice to win in front of a home crowd and I wouldn’t exchange it for anything else.
“It was pretty tough out there today. I played really nicely, I hit the ball superb I think, and the putter was just cold – I couldn’t get the speed of the greens going today. Fortunately at the end of the day it was enough.
“I think there was one big key today, Zack [Rasego] on the bag kept me calm throughout the whole day so big thanks to him.”
Grace returned to the course early in the morning with three holes of his third round to complete after lengthy thunderstorm delays on the first two days.
Full of confidence after birdieing his last three holes before another storm halted play on Saturday, and starting the day level with England’s Richard Finch, Grace was three clear ahead of the final round.
While Finch bogeyed the 17th, Grace birdied the last two holes to establish a lead he would never relinquish.
He almost became lost with a bogey at the second when the final round began, particularly with Finch birdieing the opening hole to move within one, but found his composure to birdie the ninth to turn in a level par 37.
Finch’s challenge unravelled with three-putts at the fifth and sixth as the former Irish Open winner signed for a 78, while George Coetzee, who started the closing round level with Finch, never fully recovered from three birdies in his first four holes.
Elson had already set the clubhouse target at 16 under when Grace reached the turn, and the South African managed the requisite pars on every hole of the back nine.
There was a slight wobble at the last when his pitch finished 40 feet from the flag, but Grace’s fears were relieved when he rolled the ball to within 18 inches for a simple tap-in finish.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 287 (3x72, 1x71)
Players from South Africa unless stated. Prize money in Euros.
270 Branden Grace 67 66 65 72 (206,050).
271 Jamie Elson (England) 63 75 70 63 (149,500)
273 Marc Warren (Scotland) 66 69 70 68, David Drysdale (Scotland) 65 72 69 67, Dawie Van der Walt 70 66 67 70, Michiel Bothma 68 66 68 71, Jaco Van Zyl 67 69 679  68, Trevor Fisher junior 68 68 69 68 (53,972).
274 George Murray (Scotland) 65 69 73 67, Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) 70 66 69 69, Robert Rock (England) 65 67 72 70, Jbe Kruger 74 74 70 70 (24,635)
OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
275 Craig Lee 64 74 70 70 (T17) (15,451)
279 Scott Jamison 68 67 70 74 (T24) (12,301)
282 Alastair Forsyth 74 65 72 71 (T40) (6,630)


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