At long last, we finally have a 62 at the men’s golf major championships. After years of challenges and multiple 18th hole interventions from unseen forces that made it seem like we’d never get a 62, Branden Grace finally delivered the magic number at The Open Championship.
Branden Grace shoots 62 at The Open, breaking all-time golf majors scoring record
After years and years of close calls and a whopping 31 rounds of 63, we finally have a 62 in one of the men’s major championships.
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Grace is a super talent and has contended at multiple majors in his young career, but this was flawless from start to finish and the biggest moment of his career. Grace called it a “special day” and he didn’t even have to sweat it out on the 18th hole as we’ve seen on an almost annual basis with all the 63s over the years. Grace needed only a tap-in par to set the new record and post an 8-under 62 that has him now tied for second place at the 146th Open.
The South African went out in 29 on the front nine at Birkdale, which got the property primed for another scoring record challenge. We were already expecting low scores from the start of the day. The wind is down, blowing at most 8 mph, and that’s often the defense for a links course like this. Birkdale is just over 7,000 yards and if the weather cooperates, the best in the world are going to post a bunch of low-to-mid 60s rounds. The broadcast prepped us for it too, with Colin Montgomerie warning we were on “62 watch” early this morning and new NBC addition, Phil Mickelson’s ex-caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay saying “Don’t tell Johnny [Miller] I said this, but there’s a 62 out there today.”
Grace came through just a couple hours after these predictions and delivered. Instead of posting the 32nd round of 63 in the men’s majors, he decided to break the curse and create his own (for now), much more exclusive club.
After the front nine 29, Grace just needed to play the back in 33. Birkdale has the unique setup of a par-70 with both par-5s coming on the back nine. That put Grace in perfect position to get to 62, and possibly even 61 with those two par-5 scoring opportunities coming over the final four holes.
Grace missed a birdie chance at the first par-5, the 15th, but then made up for it on the par-4 16th with a lengthy birdie putt that got 62 right back in sight. Two short putts, for birdie at the 17th and par at the last, made it relatively drama-free compared to all the angst and final-hole nail-biting of previous record challenges.
It’s a remarkable accomplishment for Grace, who is obviously now also in contention for his first major championship. And given the way Birkdale is playing and the birdies that are pouring in left and right, he may have a partner in the 62 club by the end of the day. Dustin Johnson is 6-under on the day with the two par-5s still to come. He’ll need to play the last four holes in 2-under to match Grace.
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