Branden Grace, who picked up his first world ranking points as an LIV player in the season opener in Riyadh this weekend, is still eyeing an elusive major victory.
The 37-year-old golfer, driving the ball further than he’s ever done before, fired eight-under-par on the final round on Saturday night to finish tied for ninth at 17-under overall.
That earned him $415,000 (R6.65m) as well as some world ranking points after the decision this week by the Omega World Golf Ranking governing body to include the top 10 finishers of LIV events, a first since the organisation launched in 2022.
Australian youngster Elvis Smylie won on debut, bagging the $4m (R64.1m) first prize after firing an eight-under final round to finish on 24 under, one stroke ahead of Spanish star Jon Rahm.
Grace’s Southern Guards team finished tied for eighth at 44 under.
“It’s been pretty harsh trying to get points,” said Grace, who plans to compete in the South African Open that kicks off at Stellenbosch Golf Club on February 26.
“Always try to go home, play in South Africa, and try to get world ranking points there, as many as you can. You try to qualify for a major or something like that. Play on an invite here and there; just try to do something special in those weeks that we get the opportunity.
“But now it’s great that we got the world ranking points,” he said, adding some players felt more than the top 10 should be rewarded, even though it’s a limited-field event.
“I’ve been fortunate enough in my career; I’ve won all the big events in South Africa, so for me it’s just trying to do it again. There are more perks going now with the SA Open, with the winner getting the US Masters spot and three British Open spots.
“I’m going to compete in things like that. My main thing is still to try to get into some majors and still try to compete in some majors.
“I still believe I can win a major,” said Grace, who finished third at the 2015 PGA Championship, tied for fourth at the 2015 US Open and tied for sixth at the 2017 Open Championship.
Grace struggled with an injury to his right wrist last year, but rehabilitation had sorted the issue and left him hitting the ball further.
We’ve had this vision, this hope, to take the event to South Africa. And, with us coming to LIV and being part of an all-South African team, we’ve dreamt of taking this event there.
— Branden Grace
“I’ve actually picked up some distance there. Now I’m [driving] around; I want to say about 292m, something like that.
“After my rehab with the wrist, I had to get stronger. Part of that was getting stronger from the core on up. I’ve done a lot of work in the gym on that, specifically trying to get my hands stronger, my arms stronger, and my neck and shoulders stronger.”
He had also worked on technical elements of his swing. “I’ve done a lot of groundwork, using certain methods to try to pick up speed and things like that. We call it push and pull; you feel like you push into the ground, and then you pull away from the ground again.”
The irons were about five yards longer, added Grace, who was particularly looking forward to the LIV event at Steyn City from March 19 to 22, pointing out it had a different feel to other tournaments.
“We’ve put a lot more into this event than just me going and pitching up for a Dunhill or an SA Open.
“We’ve had this vision, this hope, to take the event to South Africa. And, with us coming to LIV and being part of an all-South African team, we’ve dreamt of taking this event there.
“Now that it’s happening, you feel like there’s so much more pressure on you. All of us want to play well. We all want to win it for the home fans.
“So it is going to be a little bit different.”
— David Isaacson was in Riyadh at the invitation of LIV Golf
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