Branden Grace matches European Tour record of 60, and leads the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
A golden run of seven birdies on the front nine at St. Andrews allowed the South African Branden Grace to take the outright lead at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
In addition to that, he also matched the European Tour record of scoring a 12-under par 60 in a single round.
Prior to Grace breaking the course record at Kingsbarns, Lee Westwood held the record with a 62 that he recorded in 2003.
Westwood’s performance also included an albatross two on the ninth hole. However, Grace did not need any such extraordinary thing marked on his scorecard.
"I never really made anything long," he said. "It was all 12 to 15 footers and it's nice just to have a bogey-free round on a links. We were lucky with the weather, but you still have to get it in the right spots and get it around”.
With such a stunning performance, he became only the 14th player in the history of the European Tour to reach that mark. Darren Clarke is currently the only player who has done it twice during his career.
Grace, who recorded three European Tour victories in the first four months of the current season, got off to a flying start on Thursday.
He birdied the opening hole (No.10) and followed that by another two on the 12th and the 13th holes. A sparkling eagle on the 16th hole allowed him to reach the turn with a five-under par score.
His back-nine performance was even better. He birdied two of the first four holes, prior to making a run of straight five birdies to end his round.
He now leads the field by two strokes, as Victor Dubuisson took the second spot after posting a decent 10-under par 62.
At one time, Dubuisson also threatened Grace with his stunning display of the game on the first 15 holes that he played.
Entering the final three holes, the Frenchman had the chance of making it to a magical 59, with birdies on two of the remaining holes.
However, he failed to keep the momentum going into the final moments of his round and conceded a bogey on the 16th hole (No. 7).
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