Branden Grace wins Qatar Masters

Branden Grace of South Africa held off Scotland’s Marc Warren to win the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters by a single shot at Doha Golf Club. It was Grace’s sixth European Tour title.

Branden Grace of South Africa held off Scotland’s Marc Warren to win the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters by a single shot at Doha Golf Club. It was Grace’s sixth European Tour title.

The turning point came at the short par-4 16th where Grace fired a superb drive into within five feet of the cup, setting up an eagle two proved to be decisive.

Grace has already been a champion on the 2015 European Tour – he took the win in the Alfred Dunhill Championship in his native South Africa. He now sits in third place on the Race to Dubai standings.

“It was a great day, a great week,” he said. “The form has been there, I played great and I managed to get in on top.”

Grace began the final round tied for the lead with Warren, Bernd Wiesberger of Austria and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo. It was the Scot who struck first with two birdies in a row. But he came unstuck with a double bogey at the 8th. Warren recovered well on the back nine to fire a closing 67 and secure solo second place, one clear of Wiesberger in third.

England’s Eddie Pepperell also closed with a 67 to take fourth place on his own.

Gregory Bourdy of France raced to the turn in 30 but his challenge stalled on the back nine and he had to make do with a share of fifth place.

Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Doha GC, Doha, Qatar Jan 21-24, purse €2,225,000, par 72

1    Branden Grace (RSA)    67    68    68    66    269    €353,257 2    Marc Warren (Sco)    71    65    67    67    270    €235,502 3    Bernd Wiesberger (Aut)    69    66    68    68    271    €132,685 4    Eddie Pepperell (Eng)    69    71    65    67    272    €105,978 T5    An Byeong Hun (Kor)    67    69    72    65    273    €75,880 T5    Gregory Bourdy (Fra)    70    68    70    65    273    €75,880 T5    Emilano Grillo (Arg)    67    69    67    70    273    €75,880 8    Alejandro Canizares (Esp) 67 70    68    69    274    €52,989 9    Alex Noren (Swe)        67    71    72    65    275    €47,478 T10    Oliver Fisher (Eng)    65    73    69    69    276    €40,695 T10    Benjamin Hebert (Fra)    72    68    69    67    276    €40,695

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage