The Open 2017: Branden Grace shoots a 62 to set a new major record
- Published
Grace shoots record-breaking 62 with putting masterclass
2017 Open Championship on the BBC |
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Venue: Royal Birkdale Dates: 20-23 July |
Live: Listen to BBC Radio 5 live commentary and follow text updates - including in-play video clips - on BBC Sport website and mobile app. TV highlights on BBC Two. Click for full times. |
South Africa's Branden Grace has become the first man to score 62 in a major.
Grace holed eight birdies in a bogey-free third round of The Open at Royal Birkdale to beat the previous best of 63, which has been recorded 31 times.
"I had no idea I was about to shoot the lowest round ever," world number 35 Grace, 29, told BBC Radio 5 live.
South Korea's Hyo-Joo Kim holds the record for the lowest round in any major with 61 at the women's Evian Championship in 2014.
Grace, who recorded birdies on the first, fourth, fifth, eighth, ninth, 14th, 16th and 17th holes, needed par on the par-four last to set the record.
He found the first cut of rough with his first shot and his second shot came to rest 45 feet beyond the hole.
His first putt rolled three feet to the right cup and he knocked in the second.
"I was in the zone, trying to finish the round and it's never nice to finish with a bogey," Grace added. "After I made it, my caddie told me the situation and that made it even better."
Zach Rasego, Grace's caddie, said he only found out "when Jason Dufner's caddie said this putt is for history".
Grace's round is not the lowest score to par in a men's major though, with seven players scoring nine under on par-72 courses.
"This is momentous," said former Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie on BBC Radio 5 live. "The day Grace broke the unbreakable record."
Grace had started the day on four over, but is now four under and just two shots off leader Jordan Spieth, who teed off at 15:55 BST.
Branden Grace's third round scorecard
Analysis
Iain Carter, BBC Sport golf correspondent at Royal Birkdale
People have been getting touch and saying 'Hang on, it is a par 70 and only eight under par so we have seen lower rounds in relation to par'.
But the fact of the matter is, what is recorded is the total number of shots played, irrespective of what par is.
No one has covered a major course in 62 shots before, it is an extraordinary moment for the game of golf.
- Published20 July 2017
