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Els tips Grace as future Open winner

Branden Grace has got a taste for winning this season © PA Photos

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Reigning Open champion Ernie Els believes compatriot Branden Grace has shown he has the ability to win the famed Claret Jug during his career.

Grace, 24, won a remarkable fourth European Tour event of the season at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Sunday, holding off late surges from Thorbjorn Olesen and Alex Noren to complete a wire-to-wire victory at St Andrews.

The young South African started the year with three wins before the end of April - including back-to-back triumphs in his homeland in January - and Els, who has mentored the player over the years, believes Grace has the ability to go on and win the oldest major championship of them all.

"His game is so good Branden could well enough win an Open Championship," Els said. "Branden has always been a quality player, and he's really come on now. So he's a world contender now; wherever he plays, he's got a chance to win now.

"He's a quality player and he's established himself here in Europe given he's now exempt for a couple of years, so he will get a lot more starts in the US now he will be top-50 after this week."

Grace has in fact risen 12 places to 37th in the world rankings with his triumph in Scotland, and is now one of the few players who still have realistic hopes of overhauling Rory McIlroy in the Race to Dubai.

Els also revealed that he has studied Grace's progress for a number of years.

"He was in my Foundation, so whenever I have the opportunity, I will go down there, especially in December, we do clinics and I'll hang with the guys and so forth," he said. "But Branden is one of those guys that just from watching him, he's learning. He doesn't have to say much. He keeps watching and learning that way.

"So I've been pleased Branden came through my Ernie Els Foundation and we've been lucky to get some of the guys like Louis [Oosthuizen] and it's been good to see them get the break they needed."

Grace stated on Sunday that his aim is now to defeat McIlroy over the remainder of the season to take the European Tour money title.

"It's definitely in my sights," said Grace. "It feels awesome."

World Rankings: 1. Rory McIlroy (NIR), 2. Tiger Woods (USA), 3. Luke Donald (ENG), 4. Lee Westwood (ENG), 5. Justin Rose (ENG), 6. Adam Scott (AUS), 7. Bubba Watson (USA), 8. Webb Simpson (USA), 9. Jason Dufner (USA), 10. Brandt Snedeker (USA), 11. Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), 12. Steve Stricker (USA), 13. Dustin Johnson (USA), 14. Matt Kuchar (USA), 15. Keegan Bradley (USA) 16. Phil Mickelson (USA), 17. Zach Johnson (USA), 18. Graeme McDowell (NIR), 19. Sergio Garcia (ESP), 20. Hunter Mahan (USA).

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