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Puerto Rico Open: Branden Grace with an incredible finish to win

By Christopher O'Day

RIO GRANDE, PUERTO RICO - FEBRUARY 28: Branden Grace of South Africa plays his shot from the 18th tee during the final round of the Puerto Rico Open at the Grand Reserve Country Club on February 28, 2021 in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
RIO GRANDE, PUERTO RICO - FEBRUARY 28: Branden Grace of South Africa plays his shot from the 18th tee during the final round of the Puerto Rico Open at the Grand Reserve Country Club on February 28, 2021 in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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With two holes left, it looked like the best chance at winning or Branden Grace was going to be finishing tied for the lead, and then winning in a playoff at the Puerto Rico Open.

The last two holes were a par-4 and a 630-yard par-5, neither one of which you would think would give you a reasonable chance at eagle. If you were going to make it on one of them, you would think that if you could bomb your drive and pipe a three wood, it would be on the par-5.

Well, that wasn’t the case for Branden Grace. He chipped in for eagle on the par-4 17th hole at the Puerto Rico Open.

He had been at -16, and two shots back of Johnattan Vegas, with two holes left to play. Although not that many people were watching this alternate event, the “lesser” of the two PGA Tour events on the week, Grace was still able to help bring excitement to the event amidst his incredible finish.

Needing a strong finish to put himself in position, Branden Grace went above and beyond what anyone could’ve expected en route to a final round 66, finishing -6 for the day.

Similar to how Carlos Ortiz finished his round over at the WGC Workday, Grace was at -3 through 16 holes. He was within sight of the top of the leaderboard, whereas Ortiz just wanted to finish strong. They ended up putting together the same type of scores on their last two holes. Ortiz went eagle-birdie with a 3-3, the more conventional way, while Grace went eagle-birdie with a 2-4, as the two on a par-4 are always surprising.

It looked like it was going to be Vegas’s tournament to lose with a handful of holes left to play. He was -18 through 13 holes and had a two-shot lead. One bogey and one birdie over his last five holes left the door open, and Branden Grace Sparta kicked his way right through it.

Before getting to the 17th, Grace had been playing a mildly good round, albeit a quiet one without much movement. 13 pars to three birdies, he had slowly brought himself into contention. With the strong finish, he was able to grab the win, just his second of his career. The first came all the way back in 2016, when he won the RBC Heritage by two shots over Russell Knox and Luke Donald.

It’s not as flashy as winning the main event of the week, but he still gets a fair amount for his good play this week. 300 FedEx Points and just over half a million dollars. I don’t know about you, but I would take that any day of the week.

Next. Tiger Woods: Plenty of tributes during final rounds Sunday. dark

Congratulations to Branden Grace for his strong play this week. With the win, he’s positioned himself nicely for the FedEx Cup playoffs later this year.

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