Golf-Grace continues to flourish at the majors

SPRINGFIELD, New Jersey, July 31 (Reuters) - The pressure of contending in majors certainly agrees with South African Branden Grace, even if he has yet to close the deal. With a tie for fourth at the PGA Championship on Sunday, Grace recorded his fourth top-five finish in golf's biggest events in just two years. Ranked 12th in the world, he rebounded superbly from an opening level-par 70 at Baltusrol to shoot 66 and 67 in the final two rounds and finish at nine-under 271, five strokes behind winner Jimmy Walker. "I came here this week and thought this is a place I can do well," Grace told reporters after setting the clubhouse lead before being eclipsed by eventual champion Walker and others. "Played great the first day, was just unlucky ... when I tee it up now, I feel I can win a major. If you are coming into a major with that mindset, you know you are going to do well." Grace tied for fourth in last year's U.S. Open at Chambers Bay after his title hopes evaporated with a double-bogey at the 16th where his tee shot ended up on train tracks out-of-bounds. Two months later, he placed third in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, having pulled within a shot of eventual champion Jason Day's lead after making four birdies in five holes from the third before losing ground. He tied for fifth at this year's U.S. Open before suffering a rare bump in the British Open at Royal Troon earlier this month where he wound up in a share of 72nd. "I feel I'm progressing pretty nicely," said Grace, a seven-times winner on the European Tour who clinched his first PGA Tour victory at the Heritage in South Carolina in April. "I think I'm getting more confident as the majors go on. "I was a little bit disappointed with the (British) Open this year. I thought I played some decent golf, but it wasn't one of those golf courses that really suited me. I couldn't get my eye around the place. "It was good here. Starting the final round  I managed to make a couple birdies and give myself a chance coming down the stretch. It was fun. "On Friday, kind of looking like missing the cut at some stage. It shows I'm capable of fighting back and playing some great golf today just to finish the way I did." (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Andrew Both)