If Rory McIlroy hadn't won a Major, who would be the 2012 worldwide Player of the Year?  Probably still Rory (with his four PGA Tour wins) but on the periphery of the discussion might be 24-year-old South African Branden Grace, the only man two log five major tour triumphs in 2012.  Grace gained that status with his victory at this week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where a stunning opening round 60 at Kingsbarns kicked off what would become a wire-to-wire two-shot triumph over another young up-and-comer, Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen.  So as yet another top-shelf young South African prospect, how competitive might Grace currently be in America?  He's logged six official PGA Tour starts thus far in 2012 (including the final three Majors), making five cuts but recorded only a single top-25, a tie for 25th at Memorial.  Nothing too electric just yet, then, but given that his run of form has extended over an entire calendar year, Grace would appear to bear watching as he inevitably makes more American starts in 2013................Also notable this past weekend was the victory of Yuta Ikeda at the Japan Tour's Canon Open for Ikeda, now 26, looked poised to challenge Ryo Ishikawa as the Land of the Rising Sun's top young prospect when he won four J Tour events in both 2009 and 2010.  A one-win 2011 set him back somewhat (he ended the year ranked 75th in the world after residing among the top 50 in two previous years) and 2012 had thus far seen plenty of solid golf but lots of Sunday frustration; indeed, Ikeda had logged eight J Tour top 10s (as well as a first-round 62 at  September's Asia Pacific Panasonic Open) and managed the comparatively odd feat of finishing second in three straight events, the Fujisankei Classic, the Toshin tournament and the ANA Open.  So perhaps the Canon victory will get him jumpstarted once again...