Branden Grace wins and closes on his ‘top 10 goal’

South Africa’s Branden Grace admitted it was a dream come true after becoming the first player to successfully defend the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on Saturday.

Grace began the final round two shots behind former Open champion Paul Lawrie, who was seeking his third victory at Doha and had won on six of the seven occasions when he held the 54-hole lead. However, while Lawrie slumped to a closing 78, Grace carded four birdies and one bogey in a closing 69 to finish 14 under par, two shots ahead of Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen and Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello.

“It’s great. I’m pretty much at a loss for words,” Grace said after securing his seventh European Tour title since 2012. “It’s a big thing to come to a week defending. You’ve got a lot more pressure and a lot more things going on that week.