 |
| Emiliano Grillo Victorious in Napa, California |
The name Emiliano Grillo isn't going to ring a bell with too many casual golf fans, but his thrilling first victory on the PGA Tour on Sunday resonated loudly with a longtime junior counterpart, Jordan Spieth.
Grillo, a diminutive 23-year-old Argentinian playing his first event with a PGA Tour card, rammed home a 24-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole during regulation play for a 3-under par 69, then beat veteran Kevin Na with another birdie at No. 18 on the second playoff hole to win the Frys.com Open at Silverado Resort.
Only seconds after Grillo had won, Spieth, currently the world's No. 1 golfer, posted his excitement on Twitter about a player he competed against often as a junior: "EMMMILLL, first of many wins!
Cool seeing the '11s always playing great." Both Grillo and Spieth graduated from high school in 2011, along with several other young players who are making a big mark on the tour in their early 20s.
Asked if he felt good that Spieth had gushed his congratulations, Grillo said, "He'd better do it. We played a practice round in the PGA Championship and I said, 'Go get your next one.' He said, 'Go get your first one.'
I'm like, 'Yeah, I should definitely do that.' He's a good guy and a very good friend. I still have a long way to go to catch up to him, but I'm definitely closer."
Grillo, just 5-foot-9 and 141 pounds, is having the month of his golfing life. He won the Web.com Tour Championship on Oct. 4 with a 25-foot birdie putt and didn't waste any time getting his first victory on the big circuit.
He turned pro in 2011 but has spent most of his time on the European Tour, where he has had consistently strong finishes but no victories. Earlier in 2015, playing in the Puerto Rico Open on a sponsor's exemption, he blew a chance at victory with a very short missed putt in a playoff.
"I had nightmares for a week about that putt in Puerto Rico," Grillo said. "It was one of the most painful times in my life."
For a minute, it looked like he might have thrown the Frys.com away with a similar miss. He appeared to have the tournament won on the first playoff hole against Na when he hit his third shot on the par-5 18th hole from the right rough to within 3 feet of the pin, while Na left himself a 25-footer on his approach, which he rolled past the hole.
But Grillo pulled his short putt to the left and both players wound up settling for pars.
On the second playoff hole, Grillo hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker and Na appeared to have the advantage by hitting his drive right down the middle of the fairway. Grillo hit a second shot that left him roughly 135 yards short of the green, but then delivered a brilliant approach to within 6 feet.
Na, meanwhile, tried to hit his second shot off the fairway with a driver and hooked it left badly. His tough third shot rolled across the green and he wound up three-putting the green. Grillo only needed to get down in two to win, but made his first putt to win the event in style.
Na didn't regret hitting driver off the fairway, a shot that may have cost him the tournament.
"I hit probably five or six drivers off the deck this week," Na said. "Drove it on 16. Drove this green. Almost drove 9. I've hit it perfect every time. The driver is the only club that's going to get me far enough right, past the front, where I can have an aim to win. I hit it all the time. I was very confident."
As for Grillo, it capped an eventful weekend that saw him nearly clunk the Frys top attraction, Rory McIlroy, with his tee shot on the 17th hole on Saturday. McIlroy shot 69 Sunday and finished in a tie for 26th, and Grillo hoped to get an opportunity on the final day to apologize for his gaffe.
"I wasn't able to find him," Grillo said. "I almost ran across a few fairways to apologize to him. I didn't want to be the guy who almost hit Rory McIlroy this week. I wanted to be the guy who had this trophy."
Maybe Grillo can apologize at his first Masters, for which he qualified with his Frys triumph. Just the thought of playing Augusta had him beaming.
Na and Grillo were the survivors of a wild day that started with 18 players within five shots of Brendan Steele's lead. Steele, who held the sole lead the first three days of the tournament, faded with a 4-over- par 76, but several other players made runs and with less than five holes to go, five golfers were tied for first at 14-under -- Jason Bohn, Tyrone Van Aswegen, Na, Grillo and Justin Thomas.
Former Stanford star Patrick Rodgers, also part of that 2011 class with Grillo and Spieth, had his third top 10 finish as a pro, finishing tied for sixth with three other players, including England's Justin Rose and South Africa's Charl Schwartzel.
Portions of this news narrative are 'Fair Use' topics
Brought to You by PRonlineNews
