Branden Grace’s ended his 2014 campaign in stunning fashion, with a wire-to-wire victory in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek in South Africa.
The 26-year-old from Pretoria had dominated the championship all week. Opening with a spellbinding round of 62 on Thursday, the talented South African would secure a five-shot lead at the halfway stage courtesy of a second round of 66.
However, Saturday saw the field close up behind him. A level-par effort of 72 would allow Lucas Bjerregaard to move within one shot of the lead, ensuring that Grace would have to work hard on Sunday to secure his fifth victory on the European Tour.
But ultimately, the chasing pack largely stalled, with Grace’s intelligently compiled 68 securing a very comfortable seven-shot win. It would see him become the first player to win both the Dunhill Links in Scotland and the Dunhill Championship in South Africa.
The triumph was made all the simpler by the collapse of his nearest challengers. Bjerregaard succumbed to an astonishing round of 89, while Danny Willett and Francesco Molinari struggled to 76s on the testing Gary Player design adjacent to the spectacular Kruger National Park.
Former Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen would finish second, with a final round of 69 seeing the 32-year-old supplant those ahead of him on the leaderboard. Challenge Tour winner Andrew Johnston of England would ensure that his European Tour season got off to a strong start with a third-placed finish, while South Africa’s Trevor Fisher Jnr finished in a tie for fourth with Nedbank winner Danny Willett.
But it was Branden Grace’s week. The clinching of his first triumph since the Dunhill Links at St Andrews should make sure that Christmas dinner will taste that bit better this year.
"It’s special to win it wire-to-wire, more so because it’s in front of a local crowd,” said Grace. “It was a pretty flawless round today and the perfect way to finish off an incredible tournament - a great week in the office.
“I’d like to start by thanking Mrs Rupert and Mr Rupert (of Alfred Dunhill) – this establishment here is just something spectacular.
“It’s been a long year, a hard, year but now it’s a fairy-tale ending just before Christmas.
In contrast to his breakthrough four-win season in 2012, this year had been somewhat of a disappointment. However, improvement of the tee has brought back some of that form of two years ago. “One of the main things this week has been the driving; I just put a new driver in the bag in Dubai and that’s been the key this week,” added Grace.
The European Tour now takes a break for the festive season. As it returns in January for the South African, Branden Grace will be confident of securing a third triumph on home soil.