Branden Grace with the magnificent trophy (picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)
     
MARC WARREN CHASES GRACE HOME
 
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS 
South African Branden Grace soared to a sixth European Tour victory at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, thanks in no small part to a sensational eagle 2 at the par-4 16th hole.
The 26-year-old Pretorian started the closing round in a four-way tie for top spot, but his closing 66 saw him finish on 19 under par 269 and win the huge trophy and a cheque for 353,257 euros by a stroke from Marc Warren, who narrowly missed for a birdie on the last that would have forced a play-off. The Scot earned 235,502 euros
In the end, the tournament turned on Grace’s crucial eagle on the 16th, where he drilled a pin-point driver from the tee that stopped five feet from the hole. That sent the eventual champion a couple clear of the chasing back, a position from which he never looked back.
That impressive eagle, alongside birdies at the first, 12th, 14th and, crucially, at the last, meant that the man who won just last month at the Alfred Dunhill Championship was back in the winners’ circle once more.
For Warren, the tournament turned with his double bogey on the par three eighth, although to his great credit the Scot fought back valiantly and pushed Grace all the way with his round of 67.
Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger had been part of the leading quartet entering the final day, and shot a round of 68 to finish two adrift of the winning mark, while Englishman Eddie Pepperell shot a 67 to finish in fourth spot on 16 under par.
Challenge Tour graduate Byeong-hun An from South Korea tied the low round of the week with a 65 on Saturday to finish in a tie for fifth place with Frenchman Grégory Bourdy, who matched the Korean’s effort. 
The pair finished alongside Emiliano Grillo at 15 under after the Argentine, who had been the fourth member of the leading group entering the final round, carded a 70.

KEY QUOTES

Branden Grace (-19)
"Today was good. I started with a nice birdie and the round didn't really go my way from there, but I just stuck to my routines, stuck to my guns and one thing led to another. One good swing led to the other one, and I made a couple of birdies coming in, which was a great bonus.
"It's not actually my favourite tee shot (at the 16th), especially with the wind off the left. It's one you have to really commit to and it's one of those where it's a good driver, but it's not a smash.
"I managed to hit a great shot and got it up in the air, which allowed for the soft bounce, and managed to get it to go five or six feet short of the flag. Zack (caddie) just told me to stick to my routines, I was reading it well and putting it well, and I made a good stroke and rolled it in.
"Bernd got it going though, and when the putter got hot it looked like he didn't want to miss out there. It was really kind of a match play situation. I know Marc was making some birdies behind us as well, but I was just focusing on Bernd.
"So I managed to get it to an all square situation, and on 16 I went past him, and that was the game changer. It was a great day and it's just nice that the swing kept together in the situation I put myself in.
"The schedule is going to change again now, but I'm going to stick to my routines and my schedule in Europe and take it from there. This is definitely one of the ones that I wanted to tick off though, so I'm proud of myself that I managed to do it.

Marc Warren (-18)
"I started birdie-birdie, but it didn't feel as in-sync as it has been, and obviously starting with two birdies, you can't complain.
"It was a little bit all over the place though, and then I hit a poor shot on eight and made double bogey there. Walking to the ninth tee I just thought about some swing thoughts, and moved the ball further forward in my stance for the last nine holes and never missed a shot after, so it seemed to work.
"Branden made that great eagle and then I made a good birdie on 17 just to hang on to his coat-tails a little bit. He then birdied 18 and I thought I had hit a really good drive down there to give myself a good chance at it. My wedge (third shot) didn't go quite as far as I thought it was going to, so it left an uphill chance to get in a playoff, and I decided to take a little break off it, so was hitting it harder than I normally would.
"I wish next week started tomorrow, after playing a final ten holes like that. It's a second place but it's not like I have made any mistakes coming in, and it was exactly the opposite to be honest. It was kind of foot down and go forward, and I felt like I was swinging well the last few holes. I was going at flags and the putts were going in, so overall it was a really exciting day to be honest."
FINAL TOTALS
par 288 (4x72) prizemoney in euros
269 B Grace  (RSA) 67 68 68 66 (353,257)
270 M Warren (Sco) 71 65 67 67 (235,502)
271 B Wiesberger  (Austria) 69 66 68 68 (132,686)
272 E Pepperell (Eng) 69 71 65 67 (105,979)
273 E Grillo (Arg) 67 69 67 70, G Bourdy (Fra) 70 68 70 65, B An (SKor) 67 69 72 65 (75,881 each).
274 A Cañizares  (Esp) 67 70 68 69
275 A Noren  (Swe) 67 71 72 65
276 B Hebert  (Fra) 72 68 69 67, O Fisher  (Eng) 65 73 69 69
277 G Coetzee (RSA) 68 67 70 72
278 J Carlsson (Swe) 74 65 69 70, N Colsaerts  (Bel) 70 73 67 68, S Kjeldsen (Den) 73 70 67 68, H Stenson (Swe) 70 71 71 66, J Rose (Eng) 68 73 69 68, M Carlsson  (Swe) 71 69 70 68
279 S Benson (Eng) 70 71 69 69, J Quesne  (Fra) 70 72 69 68, A Hansen (Den) 71 69 70 69, A Sullivan (Eng) 71 68 70 70
280 A Quiros  (Esp) 70 70 72 68, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 73 65 74 68, F Aguilar (Chi) 71 68 72 69, M Baldwin (Eng) 70 68 70 72, D Fichardt (RSA) 67 70 71 72, E Els (RSA) 67 72 70 71, T Jaidee (Tha) 69 73 69 69
281 R Fisher (Eng) 70 70 73 68, R Gonzalez (Arg) 69 70 73 69, M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 70 70 69 72
282 E Molinari  (Ita) 71 70 70 71, P Larrazábal (Esp) 71 71 67 73, K Broberg (Swe) 67 71 72 72, S Gallacher (Sco) 68 75 72 67, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 66 73 70 73 (15,939 each)
283 J M Singh (Ind) 70 70 73 70, T Aiken (RSA) 69 73 72 69, R Paratore (Ita) 69 69 70 75, R Green (Aus) 70 67 76 70, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 68 71 75 69, T Pieters  (Bel) 73 68 68 74, S Kapur (Ind) 70 68 72 73, B Rumford (Aus) 69 72 73 69
284 P Lawrie (Sco) 67 73 73 71, P Lawrie (Irl) 70 68 73 73, J Morrison  (Eng) 68 70 75 71, D Van Der Walt (RSA) 72 69 70 73, S Garcia  (Esp) 69 69 77 69, M Kieffer (Ger) 71 68 73 72 (10,174 each).
285 J Barnes (Eng) 72 70 72 71, M Hoey  (Nir) 71 69 74 71, A Johnston (Eng) 69 73 72 71, T Lewis (Eng) 72 71 69 73, M Foster (Eng) 67 73 70 75, E Espana (Fra) 70 73 70 72
286 D McGrane (Irl) 68 72 74 72, E De La Riva  (Esp) 70 69 72 75, G Havret  (Fra) 70 69 75 72, P Uihlein  (USA) 69 73 71 73
287 J Campillo (Esp) 72 70 73 72, R Karlsson (Swe) 70 73 73 71,
M Tullo (Chi) 69 74 73 71
288 J Roos (RSA) 75 68 72 73, M Lampert (Ger) 67 74 77 70, S Jamieson  (Sco) 68 73 72 75 (4,663 each).
289 A Otaegui  (Esp) 73 70 73 73, M Nixon (Eng) 72 71 74 72
290 R Finch  (Eng) 71 72 75 72, P Waring  (Eng) 70 72 76 72
293 M Fitzpatrick  (Eng) 68 71 77 77, W Ormsby (Aus) 74 69 71 79
294 M Korhonen (Fin) 73 70 77 74


EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS