Grace stays in touch ahead of final LIV Golf round in Portland

Jul 2, 2022 | Featured, South Africans abroad

Branden Grace carded his second three-under-par 69 in a row on Friday to move to third place after the second round of the LIV Golf Invitational event in Portland, Oregon.

A round of six birdies and three bogeys saw him move to six-under for the second event in the controversial series of 54-hole no-cut events. He was two shots behind Dustin Johnson of the United States and LIV Golf debutant Carlos Ortiz of Mexico. Johnson had a 68 in the second round, while Ortiz signed for a three-under 69.

One shot behind Grace as Justin Harding, who had the best round of the day with his five-under 67 moving him to five-under for the tournament in fourth place. That put him one ahead of, amongst others, Louis Oosthuizen, who carded 69 in his second round. He shared fifth with fourth others, including high-profile defectors from the PGA Tour and fellow major champions Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka.

Hennie du Plessis had a second-round 75 to be in a share of 21st with Scott Vincent on one-over, while the winner of the first event in the series, Charl Schwartzel, added a 73 to his opening 74 to be in a share of 27th on three-over.

Ian Snyman was on seven-over in a share of 38th after a three-over 75, and Shaun Norris slumped to a seven-over 79 to languish in a share of 46th on 10-over.

In the team competition, the all-South African Stinger GC consisting of Grace, Du Plessis, Oosthuizen and Schwartzel, were in second on 11-under with Grace’s and Du Plessis’ scores counting. They were four shots behind 4 Aces GC, consisting of Johnson, Pat Perez, Reed and Talor Gooch. Harding and Norris are in Crushers GC with Bryson DeChambeau and Peter Uihlein, and were in third ahead of the final round on eight-under.

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