Branden Grace wins Qatar Masters, perhaps setting up big 2016
Saturday’s alright for winnin’ for Branden Grace.
The South African successfully defended his Qatar Masters title on Saturday in the lone European Tour stop which finishes before Sunday. With a final round of 3-under 69 at Doha G.C., Grace beat Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Thorbjorn Olesen by two shots at 14-under 274.
“This was really one of my biggest wins to date last year, and I think this is just going to push it up even higher,” said Grace, who became the first player to successfully defend the Qatar title.
“It’s all a big learning curve as your career goes on. I’ve learned a lot this week for myself, learned patience, and I’ve learned what it takes now to defend a title.”
Grace’s European Tour results in the 2015-16 season made this win seem inevitable. Coming into Qatar, Grace had made four European Tour starts on the season, including three in his home country, and hadn’t finished worse than a tie for eighth place.
Add in that Grace finished inside the top four in the U.S. Open and PGA Championship, and it seems like the 27-year-old is trending, albeit under the radar, toward an even bigger win in 2016.
Grace denied Paul Lawrie, the 1999 British Open champion, a third win in his event. The 47-year-old Scot came in as the 54-hole leader, but a final-round 78 dropped him well back into a tie for 13th place.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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