Grace lifts China Open to join elite club
South African Branden Grace lifted the China Open on Sunday with a closing three-under-par 69 and became only the second European Tour player to win three titles in the season after coming through the qualifying school.
The 23-year-old finished 21-under to win the $3 million event co-sanctioned by the OneAsia Tour by three shots from defending champion Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium.
"I thought my first win was around the corner (this season). To have three before May is literally unbelievable, but I've been playing well so I've been feeling like I can win and I've been giving myself opportunities," he said.
Grace not only matched the three titles Johan Edfors Of Sweden won in 2006 after coming through qualifying school but also became only the third South African - after Ernie Els and Retief Goosen - to win three times in a season.
Only two players - Seve Ballesteros (1977) and Sandy Lyle (1979) - have won three European Tour titles in a single season at a younger age.
Grace carded four birdies against a solitary bogey in his final round and maintained at least a two-shot cushion over Colsaerts who also returned 69.
"I stayed really calm today. 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," Grace said.
"I'm definitely here to win every week I play now."
Richard finch finished one shot behind after a final round of 66, while fellow Briton Ian Poulter finished 10-under after an identical card at Tianjin's Binhai Lake Golf Club.
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FINAL SCORES
267 Branden Grace (South Africa) 67 67 64 69
270 Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 68 67 66 69
271 Richard Finch (Britain) 67 73 65 66
272 Victor Dubuisson (France) 69 68 68 67,
George Coetzee (South Africa) 72 67 64 69
273 Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina) 68 73 65 67,
Francesco Molinari (Italy) 72 65 67 69,
Marcus Fraser (Australia) 67 69 67 70,
Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay) 70 68 64 71,
Alexander Noren (Sweden) 68 72 63 70
274 Richard Green (Australia) 69 70 69 66,
Julien Quesne (France) 70 68 69 67,
Ignacio Garrido (Spain) 67 69 67 71
275 Peter Hanson (Sweden) 71 69 70 65,
Matthew Baldwin (Britain) 65 73 70 67,
Paul Lawrie (Britain) 72 67 68 68,
Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (France) 66 67 70 72
276 Peter Whiteford (Britain) 70 69 72 66,
Jbe Kruger (South Africa) 66 72 69 69,
Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 68 70 69 69,
Robert-Jan Derksen (Netherlands) 68 69 69 70,
Joost Luiten (Netherlands) 66 71 68 71
277 Scott Jamieson (Britain) 74 67 69 67,
Damien McGrane (Ireland) 67 71 71 68,
Ricardo Santos (Portugal) 70 68 69 70,
Edoardo Molinari (Italy) 70 69 68 70,
Choi Jin-Ho (South Korea) 69 67 70 71,
Fredrik Andersson Hed (Sweden) 66 74 64 73
278 Ian Poulter (Britain) 71 71 70 66,
Brett Rumford (Australia) 73 69 69 67,
David Drysdale (Britain) 70 72 68 68,
Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) 68 72 69 69,
Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 70 70 68 70,
Scott Strange (Australia) 66 71 69 72,
Gary Boyd (Britain) 66 67 71 74
279 Anthony Wall (Britain) 68 72 71 68,
Simon Dyson (Britain) 71 70 68 70,
Andrea Pavan (Italy) 72 67 68 72
280 Rhys Davies (Britain) 72 69 71 68,
James Morrison (Britain) 71 69 70 70,
Gareth Paddison (New Zealand) 68 68 71 73,
Danny Willett (Britain) 69 68 69 74,
Johan Edfors (Sweden) 71 69 66 74
281 Lorenzo Gagli (Italy) 70 71 73 67,
Bradley Dredge (Britain) 70 72 72 67,
Markus Brier (Austria) 68 74 72 67,
Keith Horne (South Africa) 72 68 72 69,
Jamie Donaldson (Britain) 71 71 70 69
282 An Byeong-Hun (South Korea) 69 73 72 68,
Soren Hansen (Denmark) 72 70 70 70,
Shane Lowry (Ireland) 71 69 68 74
283 Richie Ramsay (Britain) 67 75 72 69,
Huang Wenyi (China) 72 68 73 70,
Graeme Storm (Britain) 67 75 72 69,
Oscar Floren (Sweden) 72 69 72 70,
Estanislao Goya (Argentina) 73 69 71 70,
Oliver Wilson (Britain) 70 67 73 73,
Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) 68 73 69 73,
Ashley Hall (Australia) 71 71 66 75
284 Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 75 66 73 70,
Michael Hoey (Britain) 74 68 71 71,
Colin Montgomerie (Britain) 68 72 72 72 ,
285 Peter Lawrie (Ireland) 69 71 74 71
286 Alejandro Canizares (Spain) 69 73 75 69,
Zhang Lianwei (China) 69 71 75 71,
Mikko Ilonen (Finland) 72 70 74 70,
Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 71 71 71 73,
Gareth Maybin (Britain) 71 70 71 74 ,
288 Felipe Aguilar (Chile) 71 71 73 73
291 Carlos Del Moral (Spain) 72 70 78 71
