Grace shoots 62 to set new major scoring mark

South African shoots 62 at Royal Birkdale

Branden Grace shot a 62at Royal Birkdale, becoming the first player to shoot a 62in a major championship.

SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND » Branden Grace posted the lowest 18-hole score in 157 years and 422 major championships, and he didn’t even know it.

He knocked in his short par putt on the final hole at Royal Birkdale for a 62 when his caddie, Zack Raswego, walked up to him and said, “You’re in the history books.”

Grace didn’t know what he meant.

The 29-year- old South African was so locked in on a flawless round Saturday at the British Open that he wasn’t even aware of the scoring record. Grace was only thinking about trying to get through the third round without a bogey.

“I had no idea that a 62 was obviously the lowest ever,” Grace said. “Now it makes it even more special than what it was.”

Grace pounced on a serene day that was ideal for scoring at Royal Birkdale with a 29 on the front nine. And after a lull to start the back nine, he resumed his march with a 36-foot birdie putt on the par-3 14th, a birdie putt fromjust inside 30 feet on No. 16, and then hemoved to 8 under on his round by hitting 3-iron onto the green at the par-5 17th for a two-putt birdie.

From about 60 feet behind the 18th green, he rolled a beautiful lag to 2 feet and tapped in for the record.

Johnny Miller shot his famous 63 in the final round at Oakmont in 1973 to win theU.S. Open. Since then, 28 players posted a 63 in the majors 30 times, most recently by Justin Thomas in the U.S. Open last month at Erin Hills.

No one ever got lower — until Grace.

“Look at that number! That is sweet,” Miller, now a golf analyst, said as NBC flashed a 62 on the

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