Grace Goes Top of Race to Dubai After South African Open Win

Branden Grace has moved to the top of the 2020 Race to Dubai leaderboard after winning the South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg.

His victory at Randpark GC has seen him move to the top of the Race to Dubai standings with 476.7 points, with the victory coming at his second event of the 2020 season. Grace also featured at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, the European Tour’s season-opener, where he finished in a tie for 3rd place.

The winner of the Alfred Dunhill was Pablo Larrazabal, who took home 460 Race to Dubai points for the victory, and he now drops down to the second spot, having not featured on the European Tour since.

That could be down to the horrendous blisters that he was suffering from on the final day of the season-opener in South Africa, although he was still able to fight through them to take the win.

More from Pro Golf Now

Now in 3rd spot on the RTD list for 2020 is teenager Rasmus Højgaard, who becomes the third-youngest player to ever win on the European Tour in December.

He took the victory at the AFRASIA BANK Mauritius Open in a playoff, for his first-ever European Tour win, becoming the quickest Dane to ever do so, in just his fifth event on the Tour.

Adam Scott sits in 4th, having won the only European Tour event he has featured in so far this season. He won on home soil at the Australian PGA Championship, bringing home 335 points.

Sweden’s Joel Sjöholm sits in fifth after four events, having featured in three of them. The majority of his points come from a runners-up finish at the Alfred Dunhill Championship at the start of December.

South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen sits in 6th spot, having finished 2nd to Grace at this week’s South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg. He took home 222 points from his only European Tour appearance of the season so far.

Renato Paratore is currently 7th on the leaderboard, having finished in a tie for 2nd at the AFRASIA BANK Mauritius Open, after losing out in a playoff to Højgaard.

The Italian is currently just 4.5 points ahead of Antoine Rozner, the other man to lose out in that playoff in Mauritius last month, with the Frenchman sat in 8th on the leaderboard.

Along with Grace, Johannes Veerman is the only other man to have recorded two top tens on the European Tour so far. He is also the only man to have featured in all four events so far, with a T7 result at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and a T10 finish at the Australian PGA Championship.

Both Charl Schwartzel and Wil Besseling sit in joint 10th place on the Race to Dubai leaderboard after four events, with the pair finishing in a tie for 3rd at the season-opening Alfred Dunhill Championship.

The next event on the European Tour is the first Rolex Series tournament of the season, with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship taking centre stage. 7,000 points will be on offer, with the winner of the event almost certainly flying to the top of the leaderboard come Sunday evening.

Race to Dubai Top Ten:

Branden Grace (RSA) – 476.6
Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) – 460.0
Rasmus Højgaard (DEN) – 347.9
Adam Scott (AUS) – 335.0
Joel Sjöholm (SWE) – 323.6
Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) – 222.0
Renato Paratore (ITA) – 206.5
Antoine Rozner (FRA) – 202.0
Johannes Veerman (USA) – 157.4
Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Wil Besseling (NED) – 141.6

Next. Golf Tips: Don’t miss out due to a bit of Cold Weather. dark

Upcoming Tournaments:

Jan 16-19: Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (Rolex) – 7,000 points on offer
Jan 23-26: Omega Dubai Desert Classic – 4,250
Jan 30-Feb 2: Saudi Invitational – 4,250
Feb 6-9: ISPS Handa Vic Open – 2,000
Feb 20-23: WGC-Mexico Championship – 9,000

Home/European tour