Seven years, seven months and ten days.
Emiliano Grillo waited for his second PGA Tour win.
Grillo stated that “they say the second is tougher than the first, and it was definitely harder.”
The 30-year old Argentine beat Adam Schenk, who was playing in the Charles Schwab Challenge, in a two hole playoff after a double bogey on the 72 nd.
Grillo’s nine-iron on the second playoff hole went right, but landed to the left of the greenside bunker. It then kicked onto the green and stopped 8 feet away from the hole. He took advantage of the generous bounce and made the winning putt.
Grillo, who had a deficit of four strokes going into the final round, erased it by making six birdies during regulation. He pumped his fist when his 16th birdie, a putt from 20 feet, fell in, giving him the lead. There was still plenty of drama left to be played out.
Grillo won his first tournament in a record-breaking time. He left Argentina when he was 16 years old to attend the IMG Academy in Bradenton. Grillo, who won the 2015 Korn Ferry Tour Championship on October 15, was victorious at his next appearance, two weeks later at the PGA Tour season-opening Frys.com Open. He became the sixth Argentine to win the PGA Tour, and the first to win his first official Tour start since Russell Henley in Hawaii at the 2013 Sony Open. Grillo’s last trophy was the tartan-plaid Jacket.
Grillo, who has a putter that is his biggest weakness, warmed it up after he made four birdies in the front nine. Grillo was ranked No. 1 at the beginning of the week. Grillo was ranked 134th in Strokes gained: Putting but this week he was ranked second in that category. He nailed a 17-foot putt for a birdie at 12 and he nailed the 20-footer on 16.
Grillo lost a two stroke lead on the final hole. He had to take a penal stroke after his ball ended up in an aqueduct when he pushed his tee-shot into trouble on 18. The stream pushed the ball back about 50 yards towards the tee. He was allowed to leave it where it first entered the water, and chose to put it on the cartpath. He was unable to recover from the damage as he fell back into a tie with a 72-hole score of 8-under-272.
Strange scenes on 18.
Emiliano Grillo’s tee-shot finds a stream of water and takes about five minutes to come to a halt.
Grillo plays the ball where it entered the stream @CSChallengeFW. pic.twitter.com/cc3XibhSwR
May 28, 2023 HTML0 — PGA TOUR
Harry Hall, 25, a rookie with an 8-under-62 tournament record, was leading after opening the round. He built a three-stroke early lead by birdies on his first two golf holes. He didn’t get another birdie, and his bogey on the last hole after driving into the water knocked out the playoff. His best ever result was a T-3 and a 73 in the final round. The World No. Scottie Scheffler shot 67, but tied with Hall after a hole-in-one on the eighth.
Schenk grew up on a 1,500 acre grain and sod farm in Vincennes Indiana. He didn’t get a birdie till the 16 hole, and signed for a 2-over 72. Schenk missed two birdie putsts at the 18th hole in regulation and the final but was able to make one. Grillo won the match by sinking a winning putt after his tee-shot at the par-3 16 the went over the green.
