This week’s play on the PGA Tour
saw South African Branden Grace pick up his first tour victory. Pictured above
with the historic jacket and trophy, he won the RBC Heritage by two shots,
beating the nearly man on so many occasions Luke Donald. Winning the event saw Grace
move up to 11th in the Golf World Rankings, and pocket a cheque for
over one million dollars, not a bad amount for 4 days golfing!
Donald went into the last day in
the lead, looking like he would finally convert his great history of play at
the Harbour Town golf links into a win. After a season of struggles, bordering
on quitting the game, it was good to see the former world number one back to
his somewhat best. A second place finish and a decent cheque for his efforts
could be the springboard he needs to get back in the winner’s circle.
With Donald only being able to card
a 71 on the final day, it was Branden Grace that started to post birdies from
all angles. Four under on the front nine put him well in contention, and after
a brief three way lead with Donald, Grace and Scotsman Russell Knox it was the South
African that pulled further away. With sublime pars on the 14th and
16th holes the lead was never in doubt, despite a bogey on the 17th
he went onto secure victory by two shots.
Even though it was a fantastic win
for grace, he was slightly overshadowed by the sensational play, in his first
professional PGA Tour appearance, from Bryson DeChambeau. Just last week an
amateur, the spotlight didn’t affect the new professional one bit, as he put up
a stellar performance finishing tied for fourth. The high finish puts him
automatically into the next events allowing him to make another push up the leaderboards.
The real surprise of the weekend
was the uncharacteristic collapse of Jason Day. The world number 1 was in superb
form going into the weekend, up at the top before Saturdays play. Saturday saw him
shoot a shockingly bad 79 and with that, any chance of him wearing the RBC
Heritage jacket vanishing, another jacket that hews failed to put on so far! He
finished a dismal, one under and tied for 23rd after the final
rounds play.
Another surprise this week was on
the European tour. Andrew Johnston was another first time winner, this time at
the Spanish Open, hosted by the Sergio Garcia foundation. This however, wasn’t the
surprise, it was the scoring! At the illustrious Valderrama country club, the
scoring was so high, the winning shot total being +1 and remarkably, the cut
line was +9. The course definitely getting the better of the field on this occasion!!
This week sees the PGA Tour host
the Texas open with Phil Mickelson amongst the field and the European Tour head
to China.
0 comments:
Post a Comment