Branden Grace has become the latest South African golfer to trade the PGA Tour for the European Tour and will be part of strong local contingent at this week’s BMW PGA Championship.
Having competed on American soil for the majority of the year, Grace arrived at Wentworth Club earlier this week and will be one of 11 South Africans in an exciting field teeing off at the iconic course on Thursday.
Grace is paired in a highly exciting group which features European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington and one of the many English players in action, Andy Sullivan.
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Grace, though, has been struggling for form since golf’s restart and has missed nine cuts out his ten previous starts on the PGA Tour, including the recent US Open.
The 32-year-old will be keen to get the ball rolling again in a similar fashion as when he won the SA Open on the European Tour earlier this year.
Dean Burmester will be one of the first golfers out in the field on Thursday, when he tees off alongside Julien Guerrier and Soren Kjeldsen.
Thomas Aiken will contest the opening two rounds in a grouping that consists of Scotland’s Scott Jamieson and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, while Erik van Rooyen, who also recently crossed the Atlantic Ocean to compete on the European Tour will play with Graeme McDowell and John Catlin.
Portugal Masters winner George Coetzee has been paired with Robert Rock and Robert MacIntyre for the Thursday and Friday showings, with Christiaan Bezuidenhout in action alongside Miguel Angel Jimenez and Victor Perez.
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Haydn Porteous will tee off with Gavin Green and David Howell, while Justin Harding has been paired with Mikko Korhonen and Renato Paratore.
Garrick Higgo and Compleat Golfer playing editor Brandon Stone will feature in the same group with Richard McEvoy the third candidate, while Justin Walters completes the South African charge and will play alongside Tapio Pulkkanen and Gaganjeet Bhullar.
