Branden

Grace

The South African won the LIV Golf Portland event last week with a three-day tally of 13-under 203. It was a hefty payday for the two-time PGA TOUR winner who has fallen to 132nd in the OWGR. He’s looking to stay busy, or make a statement, with his late addition to the field this week in Scotland. Previously suspended from this co-sanctioned event, the appeals court put a pause on those suspensions which allowed Ian Poulter, Adrian Otaegui, and Justin Harding to hop into the field and Grace is now joining them. These late, LIV Golf participants are not removing others from the field, only expanding it with the field size now sitting at 160 golfers.

DJ announced in his LIV Golf press conference that he has resigned his PGA TOUR membership for now. That has become the popular path for all participants in the new LIV Golf series. With his resignation from the PGA TOUR, Johnson also loses his eligibility for the Ryder Cup. “All things are subject to change. Hopefully at some point it will change and we’ll be able to participate.” Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace have also resigned their memberships, joining Kevin Na, who announced his resignation last weekend.

The South Africans began solo 2nd, five adrift of leaders Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, and after going out in 1-over (1 birdie, 2 bogeys), were now in a race for a podium. Unlike their bogey-free day-tying-low 65 in alternate shot in R2, which had they repeated that effort today they would’ve won by two, Sunday proved too tall a task, outbalancing four birdies with five bogeys. For Higgo, making his debut, he finally nabs a second top 10 in 21 career events, first since winning last season’s fill-in Palmetto Championship 19 starts ago as a non-member on a Commissioner’s Exemption, and for Grace, this is his first top 10 in the event in four attempts, and his second top 10 of the season in 14 starts, first since T7 at the ZOZO in Japan 12 starts ago. For the week, the duo signed for rounds of 64-65-63-73, and ended up six back of playing competitors and eventual champs Schauffele and Cantlay (72). See link below to post-round comments.

The South African’s dropped their first shot of the tourney with bogey-5 at 12, and Grace whiffed on a 4'5" birdie chance at the last to get a little closer, but the pair did enough to move into the final group on Sunday, scheduled for 12:50 pm local. They’ll begin five adrift of R1/R2/R3 leaders Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, who are putting on a clinic, so much so that it camouflages the fact the Grace & Higgo’s 54-hole mark of 192 would have been a new tournament record were it not for the leaders’ heroics, including a day-low 60 on Saturday. Grace contributed four birdies today, two from between seven and 11 feet, while first-timer Higgo circled four as well, the latter three at 13, 14 and 16 rolled in from between 10 and 20 feet, and added a hole-out eagle-3 at 7 from 39 yards away. Higgo is chasing a second TOUR title, first since last season’s fill-in Palmetto Championship as a non-member on a Commissioner’s Exemption, while Grace is vying for a third TOUR win, first since last season’s opposite-field Puerto Rico Open, both of their most recent victories being come-from-behind varieties. See link below to post-round comments.

South Africans nearly won this event last year, with Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel losing in extra time after being the 54-hole leaders by one. It’s a different pair in contention this year, Higgo making his tournament debut, while Grace is making his fourth appearance in the team format with a best of T24 at the inaugural in 2017 (with Oosthuizen). The tandem, who matched the low round of the day, kicked off with a bogey-free 64 in R1 four-balls, and are one of three teams error-free at the halfway mark. Today, they began on 10 tee and rang up seven birdies at holes 12, 15, 18-1-2-3 and 9, Higgo connecting two times from between eight and 35 feet, and Grace sweeping in two from between 11 and 17 feet. The duo will be in the third-to-last group on Saturday with Aussies Jason Day and Jason Scrivener, scheduled for 11:19 am local.

The 33-year-old Grace, who needs a win in Texas to secure his Augusta invite, has never missed the cut at TPC San Antonio with two top 10s: He was T-9 in 2016 and T-10 in 2017. Grace finished T-23 last year. This season, he’s made five Tour cuts in 11 starts with just one top 10 – finishing T-7 at the Zozo Championship in October. Since the start of the new year, he’s made three cuts in five starts, most recently finishing T-53 at The Players and missing the cut in his last start, at the Valspar Championship. In seven previous Masters appearances, Grace has made four cuts with a best finish of T-18 in 2013, which was his tournament debut. He last played at Augusta in 2019, when he finished T-58.

Last year, Grace was able to play in both events as Puerto Rico came the week prior to Bay Hill on the calendar. His win at Grand Reserve CC marked his first since the 2016 RBC Heritage and came just five weeks after his father, Peter, died from COVID-19. Grace shot 66 in the final round, holing a greenside bunker shot for eagle at 17 to beat Jhonattan Vegas by one stroke. The 33-year-old South African is looking for a rebound performance after missing the cut in his last start at the Genesis Invitational. He’s made four cuts in eight starts this season with his best finish being a T-7 at the Zozo Championship. In four previous appearances at the API, Grace has missed two cuts with a best finish of T26 in 2021.

The 33-year-old Grace will make his second career start at Kapalua’s Plantation Course and first since 2017. The South African earned his spot in the winners-only field by capturing his second career title in February at the Puerto Rico Open, where he carded a 66 in the final round and holed a greenside bunker shot for an eagle at the 17th to beat Jhonattan Vegas by one stroke. During last year’s wrap-around season, Grace made 17 cuts in 27 starts with four top 10s including his win, a T-2 at the Wyndham, a fourth at the Memorial and a T-7 at the U.S. Open. During the fall portion of the season, he started off with back-to-back cuts made The CJ Cup (T-68) and Zozo Championship (T-7), then missed the cut in the Houston Open. He took to social media to explain he’d been suffering from costochondritis, an inflammation of the cartilage that connects a rib to the breastbone, although he did not address if he was still in pain the following week at Sea Island. In his only other appearance at Kapalua, Grace carded just one sub-par round en route to a 1-over 293 total and last-place finish (32nd).

Tweeting on Saturday, “I have struggled with some painful Costochondritis this week, hopefully some rest on the weekend will have me ready for next week at the @TheRSMClassic. See you in @SeaIslandResort.” According to the experts at WebMD, “Costochondritis is inflammation of the areas where your upper ribs join with the cartilage that holds them to your breastbone... The condition causes chest pain, but it’s typically harmless and usually goes away without any treatment.” As they always say, “Beware of the injured golfer,” as the 33-year-old closed with a final round of 6-under 64 in last year’s RSM Classic to sneak inside the top-30. Before revealing the news and struggling in Houston, Grace had put together a quality outing at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, finishing in a tie for seventh. A playoff loser not too long ago at the Wyndham Championship and a victor in Puerto Rico in late February, Sea Island could be a spot where he contends again if all systems are go on the health front.

The South African top 10s after being T52 thru 18 holes (72-66-67-70), and notably recorded the only bogey-free lap in R2 on a dreary, cold and rainy day at Narishino CC. He began the finale T6, five back of overnight leader Matsuyama, and had come from behind in his two TOUR wins to date, but traded three birdies with three bogeys and wound up a distant 10 adrift of winner Matsuyama, who fired a 65. For the week, the 33-year-old totaled 15 birdies versus eight bogeys and a double, was around the field average in driving accuracy, greens in regulation, and putts per GIR, but was a lofty 3rd in scrambling, which buoyed him to his second top 10 in his last five starts dating to last season (T2, Wyndham).