Branden Grace wins Alfred Dunhill Championship

Branden Grace won the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek CC

Branden Grace wins Alfred Dunhill Championship
Branden Grace wins Alfred Dunhill Championship
(Image credit: Getty Images)

South Africa’s Branden Grace cruised to victory in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club. He finished seven shots clear of his countryman Louis Oosthuizen.

South Africa’s Branden Grace cruised to victory in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club. He finished seven shots clear of his countryman Louis Oosthuizen.

Grace was five shots clear after 36 holes, but a third round of 72 allowed the chasing pack back into the tournament. Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard was Grace’s closest challenger with one round to play, just a single shot behind.

In round four, Grace quickly extended his lead when Bjerregaard bogeyed the first hole. Grace then birdied the second to further increase his advantage. It turned out to be a disastrous day for the Dane. He suffered a triple bogey at the par-3 7th and that triggered a run of figures a 15 handicapper would have been embarrassed by. He came home in 50 strokes to post a 17-over-par 89.

Grace meanwhile kept his ship steady and he posted an excellent closing round of 68 to win his fifth European Tour event. He is the first player to have won both the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

"It’s special to win it wire-to-wire, more so because it’s in front of a local crowd. It was a pretty flawless round today and the perfect way to finish off an incredible tournament - a great week in the office,” he said. “It’s been a long year, a hard, year but now it’s a fairytale ending just before Christmas.”

Nedbank Championship winner Danny Willett was Grace’s closest challenger for much of the final round, but he dropped six shots in his last three holes to fall back into a tie for fourth place.

In the end it was 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen who finished alone in second. He fired a three-under-par 69 to end the week seven behind Grace and two ahead of England’s Andrew Johnston in third.

Alfred Dunhill Championship Leopard Creek Country Club, Malelane, South Africa Dec 11-14, purse €1,500,000, par 72

1    Branden Grace (RSA)    62    66    72    68    268    €237,750 2    Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)    69    69    68    69    275    €172,500 3    Andrew Johnston (Eng)    69    67    68    73    277    €103,800 T4    Trevor Fisher Jnr (RSA)    73    67    69    69    278    €67,800 T4    Danny Willett (Eng)    66    69    67    76    278    €67,800 T6    David Drysdale (Sco)    71    68    71    69    279    €48,675 T6    Francesco Molinari (Ita)    68    65    70    76    279    €48,675 T8    Shaun Norris (RSA)    68    67    73    72    280    €32,900 T8    Thomas Pieters (Bel)    71    71    68    70    280    €32,900 T8    Tjaart Van der Walt (RSA) 67 67    75    71    280    €32,900

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly. 

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?