From a Correspondent
Portland, Oregon: For the second consecutive LIV Golf Invitational, Branden Grace shot 65 in the final round.
In London, it produced a third-place finish. In Portland, it resulted in the biggest payday of his 15-year professional career.
Grace’s 7-under 65 on Saturday at Pumpkin Ridge gave him the individual title at the LIV Golf Invitational Portland.
His 13-under total for the 54-hole event was two strokes better than Carlos Ortiz, with Patrick Reed and Dustin Johnson finishing another two strokes back.
Johnson’s 4 Aces GC claimed the team title at 23 under, seven strokes ahead of Stinger GC, the winning team in London.
Thanks to Ortiz’s birdie on the final hole, Fireballs GC took third place and the final money position, one stroke ahead of Torque GC.
Grace’s win comes on the heels of a third-place finish in London, as the South African has found his form since joining LIV Golf.
He follows countryman Charl Schwartzel in the winner’s circle, with Schwartzel having claimed the inaugural event at Centurion Club.
In winning, Grace claimed the $4 million individual prize, as well as a quarter-share of the $1.5 million second-place prize won by Stinger GC, making his total payout at $4.375 million.
Cool earnings
For the two LIV Golf events, he’s now won $6.4 million.
“I played with DJ at London, as well, on the Sunday and played really nicely, and just kind of found a groove,” said Grace after winning for the 15th time as a pro.
“I’ve been feeling really comfortable. I’ve been hitting the shots that I see and things like that, and that’s really important and gives you the confidence.
“Today was nothing different. From the first hole I hit the ball great. I made a couple of nice putts when it mattered, and obviously things go your way when you win a golf tournament.”
Grace produced several pivotal shots while battling with Ortiz and Johnson in the final group.
He drove the green at the par-4 8th hole to set up a birdie, rolled in a lengthy birdie putt at 10 and birdied the difficult par-4 13th, one of just two birdies there on Saturday.
A hole-out for birdie at the 16th gave him a two-shot lead with two to play. He followed with another birdie at the 17th, as he shot 5-under on his back nine.
“I thought the birdie on 13 was huge,” Grace said.
Vital drive
“Going in there, the trees blocked me on the left, so hit a great drive down there, had a perfect number for a 3-iron, hit the 3-iron to about 20 feet and managed to make the putt.
“Then I thought I’m really in the tournament.”
Ortiz and Johnson, meanwhile, simply couldn’t keep up. Ortiz, who at one point held a 5-shot lead, shot a 3-under 69, while Johnson shot a 1-under 71.
“Obviously Branden played really well,” Johnson said.
“But I did get it back to where I was within one with six or seven holes to go, and then he decided to go on a little tear there birdieing every hole coming in.”
Ortiz, a native of Mexico, enjoyed the vibe in playing in the last group. He said he fed off the energy from the fans at Pumpkin Ridge.
“They were unbelievable – I didn’t even know there were that many Mexicans in Portland,” joked Ortiz.
“I haven’t had that many opportunities to be in final groups maybe like DJ, but it was crazy from the beginning.
Great time
“Being able to fight it out with Gracey, we were kind of in there until he decided to just keep going and left us behind. It was awesome. We had a great time.”
Although Johnson didn’t make the individual podium – he lost the third-place tiebreaker to Reed – he was happy to see his 4 Aces GC romp to the team title.
The other two members are Talor Gooch, whose 2-under 70 score counted, and Pat Perez, whose 8-over 80 on Saturday did not contribute to the team score.
Perez shot a 3-under 69 on Thursday to help the 4 Aces get out to an early tournament lead.
“The fans were electric from start to finish,” Johnson said. “I mean, there was a ton of energy out there, obviously coming down 17 and 18.”
LIV Golf returns to action from July 29 to 31 at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey. (courtesy livgolf.com)
Team leaderboard
1. 4 Aces GC, 23 under (Patrick Reed 67, Talor Gooch 70, Dustin Johnson 71)
2. Stinger GC, 16 under (Branden Grace 65, Louis Oosthuizen 69, Charl Schwartzel 77)
3. Fireballs GC, 12 under (Carlos Ortiz 69, Abraham Ancer 71, Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra 72)
4. Torque GC, 11 under (Jinichiro Kozuma 70, Yuki Inamori 71, Hideto Tanihara 72)
5. Iron Heads GC, 5 under (Phachara Khongwatmai 70, Kevin Na 72 Sadom Kaewkanjana 74)
6. Smash GC, 3 under (Adrian Otaegui 71, Chase Koepka 72, Richard Bland 73)
7. Niblicks GC, 2 under (James Piot 69, Hudson Swafford 71, Graeme McDowell 73)
8. Majesticks GC, Even (Lee Westwood 69, Sam Horsfield 74, Ian Poulter 74)
9. Crushers GC, 1 over (Bryson DeChambeau 73, Justin Harding 74, Peter Uihlein 78)
10. Cleeks GC, 2 over (Ian Snyman 71, Martin Kaymer 73, Scott Vincent 74)
11. Hy Flyers GC, 5 over (Matthew Wolff 70, Bernd Wiesberger 73, Itthipat Buranatanyarat 74)
12. Punch GC, 7 over (Matt Jones 72, Blake Windred 74, Wade Ormsby 77)
Also read: Matt Wolff, top amateur join LIV ranks ahead of Oregon Invitational
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