AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Power ranking the top ten pros

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PEBBLE BEACH, CA – FEBRUARY 10: Branden Grace of South Africa lines up a putt on the sixth green during Round Three of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Monterey Peninsula Country Club on February 10, 2018 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

Branden Grace was tantalizingly close to claiming his second career PGA Tour win last week at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Some shocking stumbles by Rickie Fowler on Sunday opened the door for Grace to grab the lead down the stretch, but the 30-year-old South African couldn’t quite get it done with rounds of 67-64-69-69 to reach 15-under.

Still, he should be buoyed by his runner-up finish that vaults him from 53rd to 40th in the world and helps his cause to get into the Masters, U.S. Open, and more via the Official World Golf Ranking.

"“Obviously after coming off a missed cut last week, coming out here and finishing second and having a chance to win a golf tournament, just a big improvement,” Grace said on Sunday. “It shows that I played some good golf and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season.”"

Grace comes to Pebble Beach for the second time. He acquitted himself well in 2018 when he finished T20. Grace shot 68-72-71-68 with the two 68s each coming at Pebble. In those two rounds he hit 77.78 percent of greens, 70.91 percent of fairways (while averaging 302 off the tee) and gained 1.642 strokes on the field putting.

His solid short game and bunker play also sits well at this venue where distance is not a prerequisite.

If only those pesky rounds at Spyglass Hill and Monterrey Peninsula could be dropped. However, considering his form coming out of the desert, it’s hard to ignore a player of Grace’s caliber this week.

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