China Open: Branden Grace’s serene progress to third title of rookie season

Three clear of last year’s winner Nicolas Colsaerts overnight, the South African’s lead on the final day was never fewer than two shots and a closing 69 saw him finish 21-under at Binhai Lake.

“I stayed really calm today,” said Grace, who got his season off to a flying start by winning the Joburg Open and followed that up with a second success on home soil in the Volvo Golf Champions event.

“I kept hitting the ball well. I missed a couple of shots the first couple of holes but regrouped well and made the birdies where it counts on the par fives, and just stayed with it from there.

“I thought my first win was around the corner [this season]. To have three before May is literally unbelievable.”

As well as matching Johan Edfors’ 2006 accomplishment of winning three times after coming through Qualifying School in the winter, the 23-year-old joins some illustrious company in the European Tour record books.

Only two players have won three European Tour titles in a single season at a younger age – Seve Ballesteros did it three times between 1977 and 1980, and Sandy Lyle did it in 1979.

Grace is also only the third South African to win three times in a single season, and again he is in the company of Major winners – Ernie Els and Retief Goosen are the others to do so.

His achievements are all the more remarkable given there have been only 15 events so far on the 2012 Race to Dubai, and few would bet against Grace adding to his trophy haul before the season’s end.

Having pulled three clear of 29-year-old Belgian Colsaerts with a sublime third-round 64, Grace holed a 15-foot par putt at the first to maintain his lead.

Colsaerts applied some pressure when he birdied the second but Grace followed him in from two feet. Both players in the final group parred the third, but a poor drive from Grace at the fourth saw him drop a shot. He responded with birdies at the long sixth and struck his approach to five feet for another gain at the seventh.

Colsaerts matched that and closed the gap to two by the turn with another birdie at the ninth.

But he dropped a shot at the tenth and Grace looked odds on to win when he birdied the 12th from five feet.

Colsaerts could not find another birdie until the last – although it was still an important blow as it gave him solo second from England’s Richard Finch.

Grace parred his way in for a three-shot victory and said he would now shift his focus to gaining a bit more experience playing on the PGA Tour as well as the majors.