Branden Grace to miss Joburg Open
OVER a period of two weeks late last year, Branden Grace finished tied 23rd and tied 46th in two tournaments. And it was big for him. They were the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship. For Grace, one of the most intelligent golfers in the game and as close to a golf academic as you can get, they both represented a breakthrough. They formed the basis of a lesson in what he calls “the process” that he had been learning for twoand-a-half years. And now he is ready to make it count. Grace has withdrawn from next week’s Joburg Open, which he won in 2012, as he has qualified to play in the WGC-Cadillac Championship on the PGA Tour at around the same time. He will head to Florida as a six-time winner on the European Tour, and he wants to see where that puts him against the world’s best on the PGA Tour.
“I feel I can really go there and compete now. I don’t see my ball-striking as being any worse than the great players in the world. It’s just about doing it at the right time and making the putts at the right time, and I feel that’s been the big change for me. So I’m looking forward to the Cadillac and seeing what I can do,” Grace says from his Fancourt home.
When he had his breakthrough year in 2012, winning four tournaments on the European Tour, Grace hoped to take that form to the PGA Tour. But it was a steep learning curve on new courses, fast greens and in a new environment. He admits he was not ready for it and needed to better understand “the process” of getting there.
Then came those two tournaments last year. “Those were the first two tournaments in two-and-a-half-years where I felt I could play there. I putted really well on those greens. Everybody knows how quick the greens over there are, and you really have to place the ball well on them. So I’m looking forward to getting back there. I’m still not going to go over there and play the PGA Tour full time. If I get into the big events I’ll go there to just try and stay in the top 50 and secure my spot in the Masters.”
With his wins in last December’s Alfred Dunhill Championship and last month’s Qatar Masters, Grace bounced back from a lengthy drought dating back to October 2012. He is happy to admit he is a “streaky player” — one who hits form and then wins a couple on the trot. The kind who wins six tournaments in a 54-tournament stretch, which in golf is a great return.
“When I get it going I get it going properly. I’ve never been a player who hits the ball badly. The thing that has maybe kept me back a bit is the putting. At the moment I’ve got this under control. I make a lot more putts than I used to, and that was also the case in 2012. When my putting is on there aren’t really a lot of guys who are going to beat me.”
His work with vision specialist Sherylle Calder has played a big part in this.
“I started working with Sherylle last year. Ernie (Els) had a contract with her that she was only allowed to work with him. I spoke to Ernie about this, because everybody saw what she did for his game. She’s made a big change in my putting. But we also work on the long game and picking targets, and getting your concentration to where it should be and not where you think it is,” he said.
Grace has also refined his practising. “I haven’t been going to the range for five or six hours a day. If I’m hitting it well then I leave it at that and concentrate on something else. It doesn’t help to hit a thousand balls if you’re swinging it well. I think then you’re just looking for trouble.”
And he plans to go into the rest of this year with a new mind-set as to how he will get to the next level in his career.
“That year in 2012 was a great year, but I’ve matured quite a bit since then. The win in Qatar was different because it was a strong field — Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Charl Schwartzel, they’ve proven who they are and what they can do, so if you can beat them it’s a good day. It was nice knowing you can win the tournaments with the big names playing.”
I feel I can really go there and compete now. I don’t see my ball-striking as being any worse than the great players in the world. So I’m looking forward to the Cadillac and seeing what I can do