Branden Grace closes in on place in world top 10 after win in Qatar

Branden Grace is confident that his impressive victory at the Qatar Masters will give him the platform to achieve his long-term goal of breaking into the world's top 10.

Grace displayed coolness under pressure in blustery conditions on the final day at Doha, firing a composed three-under 69 to claim a two-shot win and become the first man to successfully defend the title since the tournament was launched in 1998.

The South African, who dropped only one shot over the weekend despite the windy weather, started the week ranked 11th in the world, and that is where he will remain when the new rankings are published on Monday.

However, Grace is just a 10th of a point behind current world No 10 Patrick Reed, and the 27-year-old said: "I'm knocking, I'm very close. Winning tournaments is the priority. If you can take care of tournaments and try to win or finish at the top, you'll move up in the world rankings eventually.

"Top 10 has been a long-time goal for me so if I can get in there, then that's great. I believe it's going to happen, whether it's maybe after this week or after the next tournament I play. I've given myself the chance of getting that and I feel that the type of golf that I'm playing at the moment, that it's not far off."

Grace was not optimistic over his chances of retaining the trophy when he arrived for the second event of the Desert Swing, but he was delighted that his patient approach paid off as he defended a European Tour title for the first time in his career.

"I'm pretty much at a loss for words," he added. "It's a big thing to come to a week defending - you've got a lot more pressure and a lot more things going on. But to get the first proper defence under the belt is something great, and something I've been dreaming of.

Top 10 has been a long-time goal for me, I believe it's going to happen. The type of golf that I'm playing at the moment, it's not far off

"There's no better place to do it than Qatar. This was really one of my biggest wins to date last year, and I think this is just going to push it up even higher. It's all a big learning curve as your career goes on. I've learned a lot this week, learned patience, and I've learned what it takes now to defend a title.

"It was brutal out there. You can't really force things to happen. You just need to stay patient and let it happen. I did that really well on Saturday and it worked to my advantage and did the same today. I think maybe it went my way a little bit, as well.

"I enjoy tough conditions. I'm a grinder, and the patience was a big key. I really had to grind it out and let it happen," added Grace, who closed out victory with a superb 270-yard three-iron to 30 feet at the final hole to set up a comfortable two-putt birdie.

"Anything can happen on 18, especially with that pin position; you get guys going for it and making eagle," he said. "It's happened before. It's one of those holes where you can't really get too comfortable that you've done it, but I thought when I hit the green in two, this is done for.

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"I had to take it on, and I would put that down as the best swing of the week. A three-iron is not the easiest club in the bag to hit, and I just flushed it straight at the middle of the green and that took care of the rest.

"I feel privileged to be able to get my name on the trophy twice in a row. It's great to be in the winner's circle again."