Stingers' Grace seeking a return to form down the stretch this season
In 2022, LIV Golf’s beta-test year, Branden Grace won in Portland, finished second in the Individual Championship race behind Dustin Johnson, and earned a nice bonus at the end of the regular season.
Last year, he reached the podium three times in the first seven tournaments and finished ninth in the season-long points standings, carving out a reputation as one of LIV Golf’s most consistent high-end performers.
This year … well, it’s a different story. Through the first nine events, the Stinger GC member ranks 52nd in points. He’s yet to finish in the top 10 in any start, and he has just two top-24 points finishes, both of those coming early in the season.
And yes, he’s just as perplexed as you are.
“It’s hard to understand how you go from a second and a ninth to 50th or wherever I am at the moment,” said Grace, who is one of nine LIV Golf players competing in this week’s International Series Morocco on the Asian Tour. “That’s the frustrating thing because I know the golf is not that far off.”
From a pure analytical standpoint, it’s not difficult to pinpoint the area of his game that’s held him back this season.
Of the primary statistical categories, his performance with the flatstick is the biggest culprit. Of the 56 players who have played at least one full tournament this season, Grace ranks last in putting average, needing 30.78 putts per round. A year ago, he ranked T20 for the season.
From a strokes gained standpoint, he’s giving up 1.16 strokes to the field on the green in every round, again ranking last in that category. In the other categories, he’s essentially neutral.
Grace recently switched coaches, returning to his former instructor Peter Berman from South Africa. “It’s good to work with him again,” Grace said. “Just tweaking a little bit less and just playing golf.”
Meanwhile, Grace has battled health issues. He’s dealt with ganglion cysts in his wrist for several years, and occasionally the issue flares up. He has opted to drain the cyst with a syringe instead of undergoing an operation.
During the offseason, his hand became so sore that he saw a specialist in South Africa. Testing indicated there were issues with two ligaments in his wrist, and Grace has been receiving cortisone injections and other medications in hopes of alleviating the problem. The pain has gone away but his hands may not be 100% golf-ready.
“With cortisone, you never really know because you can’t feel anything,” Grace said. “So that’s played maybe a part of it. I wouldn’t be able to tell you for sure. But from what the scores in the golf have been, I would think yes.
“But I’m still out here, still playing, still practicing. Still out here giving my all.”
While disappointing in his individual performance, Grace is even more concerned about the impact on the all-South African Stingers’ results.
Dean Burmester has an individual win this year (at LIV Golf Miami) and captain Louis Oosthuizen has two runner-up finishes. They rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in points. Charl Schwartzel also has two podium results and ranks 19th in points, playing much better than a year ago even while dealing with his wife’s battle against breast cancer.
No other team has three players inside the top 20, and yet the Stingers have yet to win a team trophy this season – although they did force LIV Golf’s first team playoff in Adelaide, eventually losing to Ripper GC.
Grace wonders whether, if he played like he did the first two years, the Stingers might be higher up in the team standings than their current position of sixth.
In the first two rounds, in which just three scores count for each team, Grace has contributed seven out of a possible 18 scores. In the final round, in which all four scores count, he’s shot exactly even par. His best final-round performance is the 4-under 68 in Adelaide that helped his team shoot a record 24-under, forcing that epic playoff.
“You kind of feel like you’re letting the team down,” Grace said. “This year, Dean and Louis have really been performing well, and Charl has been up there. I’ve just been kind of managing it.
“On the final days, I’ve felt like I’ve come in there and it hasn’t been that bad. I just need to get one good round out there, a 5- or 6-under, and then I’m gonna go.”
Off the course, life has been fairly eventful for Grace, his wife Nieke and their growing family. They recently moved to the Nashville area, buying a 30-acre property.
Unlike his teammates Oosthuizen and Schwartzel, who own larger properties that tap into their farming interests, Grace said he “just likes having space.” There’s a lively local pub near his home, and occasionally some of the local country music stars who live in the area will pop in for impromptu appearances.
During LIV Golf Nashville, Grace hosted a South African braai for his teammates and other members of the extended Stinger family.
On the course, the work continues.
On Tuesday, Grace competed in final qualifying for The Open Championship. He played well enough to make a playoff, but did not earn a spot. Still, it was an encouraging performance on a grueling 36-hole day.
Four tournaments are left in the regular season, then the Team Championship in Dallas in September. Grace hopes he’ll be reaching his peak by then. Winning the team title would be redemption for a season that thus far has not been to his liking.
“The hardest thing at the moment is not pushing so hard on the golf course itself,” Grace said. “Trying to make a putt. Trying to do this, do that. At the end of the day, I want to be out there, I want to win. I feel I can win again.
“We’re only about halfway through the season. Still a lot of golf left. We’re going to a lot of places and venues that I like. I just have to grind. Just have to turn it around.”