South Africa’s Branden Grace has become the first player since Fred Couples in 1995 to follow up his first European Tour victory with a second, this time at the Volvo Golf Champions. A week after capturing his first European Tour title, Grace, 23, beat two of his boyhood heroes – compatriots Ernie Els and Retief Goosen – in his home country, and did so in a play-off. Grace, who got his Tour card through the Qualifying School just a month ago and by the skin of his teeth, made a splash last week when he won the Joburg Open, also in South Africa. Els and Goosen shared second place in the Volvo Golf Champions and recalled the duel they had played seven years earlier at The Links at Fancourt in the South African Open. On that occasion Goosen won by one stroke. “I’m ecstatic,” Grace said after hitting the two putts that ended in birdie on the first extra hole. “It’s a dream come true to win a tournament of this importance, the best I’ve played so far,” he added. The young South African player was ranked 258th in the World Ranking a week ago and has now broken into the top 100. José María Olazábal, European Ryder Cup captain, shared the lead in the last round, but could not stay in the group of contenders for the victory and fell to a very creditable sixth position.
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