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ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIPOctober 7, 2012Branden GraceCARNOUSTIE & KINGSBARNS, SCOTLAND SARAH GWYNN: Branden, congratulations. Must be a very special victory, winning here at the Home of Golf. BRANDEN GRACE: It is. It's been great. You know, I think whether you win as a junior or amateur as a pro, I think just winning here at the Home of Golf is special. Like I said before in one of my interviews, this morning I was just going on the Internet and I looked at a couple of pictures of Louis winning the British Open and what he looked like holding the trophy, and I thought, that would just make the day. I felt really calm the whole day and things like that, and actually played really well. There was a couple of slip‑ups here and there, but otherwise everything went to plan. SARAH GWYNN: Was there a point when you were quite nervous, when the lead went down to nothing? BRANDEN GRACE: I felt Thorbjørn, when he started making putts for birdies, I thought, he's going to contend. I thought, yeah, he's really going to be the one to push on, and so he did. The fact that he made that putt on 18, and that putt that I had, it was longer than five feet‑‑ when I got to the 11th hole, the short par 3, when I 3‑putted that, I thought, you know, we were tied for the lead I think. And then I just said to Zach, look, just help me with the lines, because I thought I was just reading a little too much into the lines. While I was making good strokes out there and hit going putts, and as soon as he jumped in, got the line and the speed together and the putts managed to go in. SARAH GWYNN: Your fourth win on The European Tour, did you ever dream this would be possible? BRANDEN GRACE: No, never. I thought maybe one or two would have been great, but you know, being this is my fourth, the Dunhill‑‑ there are some great names on the trophy, and it's just awesome. It's nice to win it; obviously with Mr.Rupert doing so much for golf, I think it's nice to have a South African winner coming through. So it means a lot to me. Q. Interesting on TV, you mentioned the fact that now you've got The Race to Dubai in your sights‑‑ a €400,000 gap with a lot of big money to come; it's not a lot, is it. BRANDEN GRACE: No, it's not. The beginning of the year, I thought it would be good for me to have a couple of weeks off before those big events coming up and things like that and just prepare the way I was, as I did now before coming into last week and this week. I think I'm third now, so my thoughts are moving onto winning The Race to Dubai, so 400,000 is not a lot with these big events coming up. If you can maybe win one more or a couple of good finishes, then, you know, winning is definitely in sight. Q. On the 16th, the first putt came up short and then you holed the second putt, and you looked calm all week, but not quite; was that sort of‑‑ what was the feelings at the time? BRANDEN GRACE: You know, I struggled‑‑ to be honest, I struggled on the speed of the greens the whole day. And I found myself getting over these humps the whole time, going over there or playing down all day. So I really struggled to get the speed. When I birdied‑‑ when I left 15 short and I thought, you know, I'm three ahead with three to go, I thought, if I can just have a decent finish, this should be good enough and when I got to the 16th, I hit a great shot, I hit a 6‑iron in there and I actually thought it was perfect, when I saw it bounce at the top, I thought that's all I had to do on this hole. It went down to the bottom, I just didn't want to race it by. I raced most of my putts by today and when it came back quite short‑‑ I told Zach, this is the putt. Before I hit the putt I just told myself, just see Martin Kaymer last week holing that putt, because to me it felt that was the winning putt. I felt if I can make that putt, I thought, I'll be fine for the next two holes. I managed to get that same feeling that he got and I managed to make a good stroke. Q. Do you have any more money lists events you'll play in, and tell us the story about breaking your driver. BRANDEN GRACE: The driver, I thought I heard the putter kick the driver on Tuesday, actually‑‑ and it was really just more my in my head than anything. Every time I hit the thing, I knew it wasn't broken, but every time I was going to hit a bad shot I was going to blame the driver. So I thought, stick with the Callaway boys, put some time into it and find a driver; and we managed to find a head that suited the shaft. I haven't missed a lot of fairways today and the whole week, so it's been great. And then, to get back to the schedule, I'm not sure about the next couple of weeks coming up now. Obviously I won't be going to Perth. I'll definitely be doing the two in China, the BMW and the HSBC, and then also Singapore.  After Singapore, I'll be skipping Hong Kong to head back home to go and support the Sunshine Tour back home to play the SA Open. And then I'm heading back for the final Race to Dubai, and after that, I'm not sure yet. I'm still pushing. One of my goals is to get into the Million Dollar. I think I'm really knocking on the door to maybe get into that. So hopefully that happens, and yeah, I'm definitely going to be playing the last two in South Africa, as well as the Nelson Mandela and the Dunhill. I've got a good chance of winning the Order of Merit back home, and at the moment, that's a big focus of mine. I really want to achieve that, and I think that's something that every player in South Africa, or any player, you know, whether it's the Sunshine Tour or Asian tour, you want to get your name on that title. Q. Are you still going to Portugal tomorrow? BRANDEN GRACE: At the moment, I'm scheduled to go there. I saw I just have to have a look at a couple of things and talk to the management company and things like that and see what the plan is. I think I'm pretty knackered. I think after my two wins beginning of the year, I may be should have skipped the first one in Dubai, and I think now, it might not be a bad idea skipping the next one. Q. Was there anything that Louis said during that practice round on Wednesday that helped you? BRANDEN GRACE: I actually stayed with Louis this week, he invited me to stay with him and his family this week, so that's been great. The practice round I think was Wednesday when we played here. It was more just lines off tees to be honest. I've not played here a lot of times, so for me, I'll always tend to favor the right side of a golf course, which you can't do on this golf course. So I had to really concentrate really hard to keep on the left side or hit it down the left, even if the wind was off the left. So that showed that the ball‑striking this week was there. I think what really helped, obviously staying with the family, with Louis and them, every night they had dinner together, we went to functions together and playing with the kids, it just really helped me relaxed and get ready for it. This morning, waking upwith his little girls ‑‑ I thought, it's been a good way to relax me for what was to come today. Q. What did Louis say to you this morning? BRANDEN GRACE: This morning, he just said, I'll see you at my birthday‑‑ he said he was on his way to Japan, so I know he probably couldn't have waited. I think 5.00 was his cutoff to go to the airport, but I know he would have been rooting, so thanks for that. And I'll see him at his birthday party. Q. How is it going to feel playing in your national open as one of the country's biggest stars this year? BRANDEN GRACE: It's pretty awesome. Obviously the last couple of years, I felt that, you know, I've been playing good golf but never really got the push out of it. I never really got where I wanted to in golf. Obviously this year has been a dream year so far. This is my fifth victory this year, so couldn't have been better. Going back there, I hope that I'll get rewarded for what I've done, and you know, the people will come on and support, and I hope that maybe‑‑ I don't know if Ernie and those guys are playing; maybe if he plays, I'll get the draw with him and that would make it very special. Q. Have you been down to the Swilcan Bridge yet? BRANDEN GRACE: Yes. Q. What did it feel like? BRANDEN GRACE: Awesome. It was awesome. It was one of those where you dream of lifting a trophy on the bridge. This is a golf spot that‑‑ just for me, the whole week, I've seen Louis lifting the trophy on the bridge and what he achieved when he won the British Open here. I really just wanted to get my hands on the trophy. I know the British Open is a tournament that we all strive to win and that's definitely a goal in the future, but for now, this one will do. Q. Any other feelings? BRANDEN GRACE: You know, it was just one of those things you look forward to your whole life as a golfer. I think any golfer out there would dream off winning on St. Andrews, to dream of turning pro or whatever, maybe a golfer would strive to win a tournament of this calibre, and just to win it on this place was amazing. It was just more a couple of dreams come true when I lifted the trophy on that bridge. Q. I think the pace of play today was just sort of the six‑hour mark, which is understandable, I suppose, but under the circumstances, when you're trying to close a win like this, how difficult is that to deal with? BRANDEN GRACE: It is pretty tough. You know, I think that it's something that you have to prepare yourself for. The whole week has been long. It's been a long week and I think I was fortunate enough to have great amateurs, playing with Mrs.Rupert was nice. They understand golf and they know what it's all about. When they had a hole to pick up, they did - it's what we wish for. Today didn't feel that long to be honest. I think if we had a lot more waits on tees and things like, that it would have been a lot longer. I know when I played here on Friday, we had like a 30‑minute or 40‑minute wait on the one hole. You know, there was like three groups on the tee. I think if that was the case today, it might have been a different outcome, then, you know, the nerves maybe would have kicked in if I would have started thinking what's going on around me. Q. You broke the course record at Kingsbarns; will that make Kingsbarns a special place for you for the future, and if there are any memorable holes, which ones would you name? BRANDEN GRACE: Definitely. This is actually my first course record that I've got. I think just getting the win this week and having the course record makes it special. I think if I came short of winning with the course record, I would have been disappointed. It's a great week and everything came together and that, and I've really thoroughly enjoyed playing this course the last couple of days. It's all been great and they have all played‑‑ I thought we've really been lucky with the weather which has been a big help this weekend. I don't think if you could ask for or wish or a better Sunday than today. But just to get back to the holes at Kingsbarns, I think 18 is a great hole. I really like 18. It's one of those holes where you have to be good off the tee. It's not one of the longest holes, but if you can hit in the fairway, you have a chance of making birdie. I think it's 14, I might be mistaken, the one you can drive, the one where Michael Phelps had the monster putt, those holes stand out for me. And No. 11, as well, the one that is going around the ocean, and any hole, wherever you are in the world, being on the ocean is always nice. SARAH GWYNN: Congratulations. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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