The Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Wrap

A magnificent eagle on the par-four 16th hole in Saturday's final round paved the way for Branden Grace's 6th European Tour triumph, this time at the Doha Golf Club in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

The tight, four-way tie at the start of Saturday's final round between himself and Marc Warren of Scotland, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina and Bernd Wiesberger of Austria, and the hungry bunch of dangerous pursuers nagging at their heels that included England's Eddie Pepperell and Korea's An Byeong-Hun virtually guaranteed that race to the tape at Doha was always going to be desperately close.

Something special was going to be needed to break clear of the logjam - and Grace knew it. He also had the courage and confidence to haul out his driver at the 302-yard par-four 16th, coolly take aim and then promptly blast his tee-shot to within four or five feet of the pin.

That made it easy to nail the putt for the eagle, that, more than anything else, helped the 26-year-old South African to close with a winning 66 and 19-under par total that gave him his second Tour title this season following his triumph in the Alfred Dunhill Championship in home country at Leopard Creek Country Club last month.

On Saturday Grace edged out Warren (67) by a shot, Wiesberger (68) by two, English young gun Eddie Pepperell (67) by three, and Grillo (70), An (65) and Frenchman Grégory Bourdy (65), who tied at 15-under, by three shots.

Mind you such was the tenacity of Warren, who birdied the 16th and then put himself right back in the race with another birdie at 17, Grace was finally only able to wrap-up victory with a last-gasp birdie at the 18th.

“It was a great day, a great week, and another trophy to put in the cupboard,” said Grace. “I’m going to thank Callaway again – that drive on 16 to four feet; without (Calloway) that wouldn't have been possible.

“And what about that wedge on the 5th! That was a shot that you want to hit but can't always manage to pull off.

“Yes the form has been there. I played great and I managed to get in on top.”

Grace added that the Middle East has long been one part of the world where he has wanted to win. "I've always thought my game suited these types of golf courses, and I play well when I come here.

“The tournaments here are big now, so this is one of the wins that's really putting me back on the map now. I think I'll be in the top 50 or just outside (on the Official World Golf Ranking list) after this."

Here are a few facts you might want to know when you look back at his Qatar win:

Grace, who is 1.78m tall and weighs 78 kg, was born in Pretoria on May 20, 1988, but today, when he is not on Tour, he lives at the plush Fancourt Golf Estate in the Southern Cape of South Africa.

This season's first multiple winner on the tour, Grace won his first European Tour event, the Joburg Open, in 2012 and since then it has taken him only 54 events to amass his next five victories.

At 26 years and 249 days, he is the second youngest South African to win six European Tour titles after Charl Schwartzel, who managed the feat at 26 years and 138 days

With this fourth Qatar Masters win, South Africa is now the nation with the most victories in the 18 years this event has been played.

And finally, this victory, the 128th by a South African on the European Tour, again highlighted Grace's ability to play under intense, final-day pressure.

He maintained his 100% record of winning all of his six European Tour events when leading or sharing the lead going into the final round.

THE TOP 10 SCORES

-19 Branden Grace (RSA) 67 68 68 66 269
-18 Marc Warren (ENG 71 65 67 67 270
-17 Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 69 55 68 68 271
-16 Eddie Pepperell (ENG) 69 71 65 67 272
-15 An Byeong-hun (KOR) KOR 67 69 72 65 273
-15 Grégory Bourdy (FRA) 70 68 70 65 273
-15 Emiliano Grillo (ARG) 67 69 70 273
-14 Alejandro Cañizares (ESP) 67 70 68 69 274
-13 Alexander Norén (SWE) 67 71 72 65 275
-12 Benjamin Herbert (FRA) 72 68 69 67 276

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