Ernie Els is closer to the Champions Tour than he is to winning again on the PGA Tour.
Charl Schwartzel won the 2011 Masters, his only U.S. victory. Never won a regular PGA Tour event.
Louis Oosthuizen is making a comeback of sorts, tied for second in the U.S. Open last year but has never won in the States. Won the 2010 Open Championship.
Enter South Africa’s new star — Branden Grace. There’s still a fresh image of him chasing eventual winner Jordan Spieth down the stretch at last year’s U.S. Open. He eventually tied for fourth and was third at the PGA Championship.
He has risen to 14th in the Official World Golf Rankings, far ahead of his countrymen. Oosthuizen is 18th, Schwartzel is 35th. Grace is 27 years old. Oosthuizen is 33, Schwartzel 35.
With six European Tour wins and another five on the Sunshine Tour, Grace may well be the South African most likely to win a PGA Tour event and that would most likely come in one of the WGC contests.
He has big-time game and now knows what it’s like to feel the Sunday heat at a major championship.
Don’t be surprised if he contends at Augusta in April. He is trending up and right now is carrying his country’s banner in professional golf.
He opened Thursday with a 69 at the South African Open, four behind first-round leader Jaco Van Zyl. Don’t be surprised if he’s in the hunt at the Glendower Golf Club on Sunday.
You can look in his galleries and often seen the sign “Amazing Grace.”
That’s because he is and he’s a player to watch in 2016.
