Grace claims the Qatar Masters

Branden Grace © Gallo Images
Branden Grace © Gallo Images

South African Branden Grace became the first player to win multiple events in the 2015 Race to Dubai after he held his nerve to win the Qatar Masters in Doha on Saturday.

Grace fired a bogey-free, six-under-par 66 to finish the tournament on 19-under, one shot clear of Scotland’s Marc Warren (67) and two ahead of Austrian Bernd Wiesberger (68).

Tied at 18-under-par as they approached the 18th tee, Grace held his nerve with a birdie while Warren could only salvage par after his wayward tee-shot failed to find the fairway.

“It was a great day, a great week, and it’s another trophy to put in the cupboard,” Grace told the europeantour.com.

“The form has been there, I played great and I managed to get in on top.”

Grace, who claimed his sixth career title and second in four starts this season, followed up a first-hole birdie with 10 successive pars before going five-under through the final seven holes.

Having shot birdies on the 12th and 14th, the 26-year-old carded a superb eagle on the 16th after a crushing tee-shot.

A second eagle nearly followed on the 18th but his sublime pitch shot tricked agonisingly wide.

Grace holed the three-foot putt for birdie while Warren failed with his 20-foot effort to force a playoff.

Warren’s superb five-under-par back nine had helped him back into contention after an inconsistent front nine which yielded a bogey and double-bogey alongside three birdies.

World No 2 Henrik Stenson finished on 10-under-par while defending champion Sergio Garcia was well off the pace a further six shots adrift on four-under.

The Race to Dubai is the European Tour’s season-long competition spanning 47 tournaments and was won by Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy in 2014.

FINAL SCORES

269 Branden Grace (South Africa) 67 68 68 66

270 Marc Warren (Britain) 71 65 67 67

271 Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) 69 66 68 68

272 Eddie Pepperell (Britain) 69 71 65 67

273 An Byeong-Hun (South Korea) 67 69 72 65, Emiliano Grillo (Argentina) 67 69 67 70, Gregory Bourdy (France) 70 68 70 65

274 Alejandro Canizares (Spain) 67 70 68 69

275 Alexander Noren (Sweden) 67 71 72 65

276 Oliver Fisher (Britain) 65 73 69 69, Benjamin Hebert (France) 72 68 69 67

277 George Coetzee (South Africa) 68 67 70 72

278 Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 70 73 67 68, Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) 73 70 67 68, Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 70 71 71 66, Magnus Carlsson (Sweden) 71 69 70 68, Johan Carlsson (Sweden) 74 65 69 70, Justin Rose (Britain) 68 73 69 68

279 Andy Sullivan (Britain) 71 68 70 70, Julien Quesne (France) 70 72 69 68, Anders Hansen (Denmark) 71 69 70 69, Seve Benson (Britain) 70 71 69 69

280 Tommy Fleetwood (Britain) 73 65 74 68, Felipe Aguilar (Chile) 71 68 72 69, Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 69 73 69 69, Alvaro Quiros (Spain) 70 70 72 68, Ernie Els (South Africa) 67 72 70 71, Darren Fichardt (South Africa) 67 70 71 72 , Matthew Baldwin (Britain) 70 68 70 72

281 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (France) 70 70 69 72, Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina) 69 70 73 69, Ross Fisher (Britain) 70 70 73 68

282 Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 71 71 67 73, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 66 73 70 73, Edoardo Molinari (Italy) 71 70 70 71, Stephen Gallacher (Britain) 68 75 72 67, Kristoffer Broberg (Sweden) 67 71 72 72

283 Shiv Kapur (India) 70 68 72 73, Brett Rumford (Australia) 69 72 73 69, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand) 68 71 75 69, Thomas Pieters (Belgium) 73 68 68 74, Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 70 70 73 70, Thomas Aiken (South Africa) 69 73 72 69, Renato Paratore (Italy) 69 69 70 75, Richard Green (Australia) 70 67 76 70

284 Peter Lawrie (Ireland) 70 68 73 73, Maximilian Kieffer (Germany) 71 68 73 72, Dawie Van der Walt (South Africa) 72 69 70 73 , Paul Lawrie (Britain) 67 73 73 71, Sergio Garcia (Spain) 69 69 77 69, James Morrison (Britain) 68 70 75 71

285 Michael Hoey (Britain) 71 69 74 71, Mark Foster (Britain) 67 73 70 75, Andrew Johnston (Britain) 69 73 72 71, Jason Barnes (Britain) 72 70 72 71, Edouard Espana (France) 70 73 70 72, Tom Lewis (Britain) 72 71 69 73

286 Damien McGrane (Ireland) 68 72 74 72, Gregory Havret (France) 70 69 75 72, Eduardo De La Riva (Spain) 70 69 72 75, Peter Uihlein (U.S.) 69 73 71 73

287 Robert Karlsson (Sweden) 70 73 73 71, Jorge Campillo (Spain) 72 70 73 72, Mark Tullo (Chile) 69 74 73 71

288 Moritz Lampert (Germany) 67 74 77 70, Scott Jamieson (Britain) 68 73 72 75, Jake Roos (South Africa) 75 68 72 73

289 Matthew Nixon (Britain) 72 71 74 72, Adrian Otaegui (Spain) 73 70 73 73

290 Richard Finch (Britain) 71 72 75 72, Paul Waring (Britain) 70 72 76 72

293 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Britain) 68 71 77 77, Wade Ormsby (Australia) 74 69 71 79

294 Mikko Korhonen (Finland) 73 70 77 74

Supersport

Share Button
, ,

About southcapenet

Adding value to my domain hosting and online advertising services.
View all posts by southcapenet →