Branden Grace has opened up about parting ways with his caddie after a heart-to-heart chat with his wife, following his gutting relegation from LIV Golf this season.
The South African golfer, who clinched an early win on LIV Golf in Portland in 2022, was cut from the LIV line-up alongside Bubba Watson, Kalle Samooja, and siblings Scott and Kieran Vincent.
Following a taxing year and his departure from the Saudi-backed series, Grace is now competing in LIV Promotions this week to claw back his position. He told LIV Golf prior to the qualifier: "I didn't have a good year. That's all on me. So now it's about putting your head down and just playing golf."
He also shared insight into his struggles: "Listen, the toughest thing when you go through a season like this is the harder you try, almost the worse it gets," he said.
"And it's not the harder you try meaning practice-wise and things, it's just the more pressure you put on yourself to perform.
"And I think that's when you fall behind, that's kind of what you do. It's human. So it was kind of a big thing a couple of months ago, I had a good talk with my wife and just kind of: Where are we? What am I doing? And it's so hard to figure out.
"And I made a decision to change my caddie and got Johan [Swanepoel] on the bag. It's just been a big process. We know we are working on the right thing."
Grace's demotion left an opening in Louis Oosthuizen's Stinger line-up for the 2025 season. While Oosthuizen hasn't filled the slot yet, Grace has a chance to return as the fourth member of the all-South African squad if he triumphs at this week's 72-hole qualifier in Saudi Arabia.
His captain appears to still believe in him. "Louis told me, 'Gracie, you never gave up once this year," the 2022 LIV Portland champion recalled.
"'You kept on practicing, you kept on being there, you kept on supporting, you kept on having your feeling in the team.' So that's all I can do. But I feel the last three months have been a big turning point."
