Alfred Dunhill Links Championship: Branden Grace wins for the fourth time on the European Tour
Branden Grace carded a two-under par 70 in the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, to record the fourth European Tour victory of his career this season.
Grace, who won three titles early this season, retained the lead at St. Andrews, right from the beginning of the tournament.
After recording a 60 in the first round on Thursday, he became only the 14th player in the history of the European Tour to reach that mark.
He then added 67 and 69 in the second and the third round respectively, to remain on the top, entering the final round.
On day four, he kept the momentum going and signed five birdies against three bogeys on his scorecard, to take home €617,283 first prize.
The victory also moved the South African to the third spot in the European Tour’s official money list for the current season.
He now plans to give a tough competition to Rory McIlroy, who currently holds the top spot in the money list.
"It's definitely in my sights,” said Grace, who also became the youngest South African to win four European Tour titles in a single year.
Apart from that, he also became the only player in the history of the tour to win four events in a season, followed by the Q-School graduation year.
"It feels awesome. I've really dreamt of this moment my whole life," he said. "I had goosebumps thinking this morning about Louis and the possibility of holding a trophy here myself. It was a tough day, but the putter started working and that's all I needed
to do”.
Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen, in the meantime, also gave a tough time to Grace on top of the leaderboard.
Throughout the final round, he remained in contention for the top spot. He recorded a total of five birdies against a lone bogey for a four-under par 68.
At one point, he was just one stroke shy off the lead. However, Grace is currently enjoying the best form on the tour and held his nerves to retain the first position till the end.
Olesen carded a 20-under par tournament score to take the second position in the tournament.
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