Dunhill Links winner Branden Grace has Rory McIlroy in his sights as Race To Dubai battle hots up

Rory McIlroy faces new competition as he bids to emulate Luke Donald's feat of 12 months ago by winning both US and European money list titles in the same season.

Responded

Grace led the Dunhill from the moment he started the celebrity pro-am with a Tour record-equalling 60 at Kingsbarns and even when he was caught by Olesen with seven holes to play on Sunday he responded with a hat-trick of birdies. His caddie was Zack Rasego, the same man who was with compatriot Louis Oosthuizen when he won the Open Championship at St Andrews two years ago. The close friends practised together on the course and Grace even watched clips from Oosthuizen's victory before teeing off for the final round. With a closing 70 his 22-under-par total matched the tournament record set by Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey last October. "It feels awesome to win here - I've really dreamt of this moment my whole life," he added. Ernie Els, delighted to see another product of his Foundation achieve such success, has already said he believes Grace has the talent to join Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel as a major champion. And three-major winner Padraig Harrington added this: "There's probably nobody else in golf I'd like to play with more - I'm curious to see what makes him tick. "He gets in the lead and keeps going. That's a tremendous trait to have - 99% of golfers stall."