Top 10 at US Open for Grace

GARDEN ROUTE GOLF NEWS - Branden Grace can hold his head high after a tied-seventh finish at this year's US Open, climbing an impressive 24 spots up the leader board in the final round.

Grace, who was raised in Buffalo Bay and is an Outeniqua High School alumnus, took part in the 121st US Open tournament held last weekend.

Grace qualified for this year's US Open, the third major tournament of the year, by virtue of a qualifier held at The Bear's Club in Jupiter, Florida on 7 June. He was in good form leading up to the qualifier, having finished fourth at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, the weekend before. Grace finished tied-third in the qualifier on two under to book his spot at the US Open.

Two weeks later and Grace was on the USA's west coast as one of the 156 golfers at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, San Diego, California for the US Open.

The tournament, played from 17 to 20 June, was making a return to Torrey Pines 13 years after Tiger Woods' dramatic triumph over Rocco Mediate in the 2008 US Open. It was also Grace's eighth time taking part in a US Open.

He got his week underway with a one-over-par 72 in the first round on Thursday, leaving him tied-41st (T41). He carded a one-under score of 70 in the second round to climb to T14 and avoid the cut by four shots, avoiding a repeat of his fortune at the 2019 and 2020 US Opens. Grace didn't have a great third round, shooting a three-over 74 to drop to T31 ahead of the final round.

While countryman Louis Oosthuizen was battling it out for the title on Sunday, Grace was quietly going about his business and slowly making his way up the leader board.

A one-under first nine put him at two over, which he followed up with a great second nine that saw him card the joint-lowest round of the day, a four-under 67.

One of only two bogey-free rounds on the final day, Grace lifted himself to one-under-par for the tournament in T7, which is his third-best performance at a US Open after his exploits in 2015 (T4) and 2016 (T5). It is also his best finish at a major since his T6 at the Open Championship in 2017.