Rookie Emiliano Grillo wins Frys.com Open after play-off with Kevin Na
FROM SKYSPORT.COM
Emiliano Grillo celebrates after holing the winning putt for his maiden US PGA Tour title
Florida-based rookie Emiliano Grillo, 23-year-old from Argentina, snatched a
life-changing maiden US PGA Tour title after beating Kevin Na at the second
play-off hole to win the Frys.com Open in California.
After
long-time leader Brendan Steele imploded down the stretch with five
bogeys in six holes, Grillo nailed a 25-foot putt on the final green to
post a three-under 69 and take the clubhouse lead on 15 under, and Na
matched him with a neat pitch to six feet setting up the birdie he
needed to force extra holes. Grillo should have wrapped up victory
on the first play-off hole, where he atoned for a poor second shot with
a sublime chip to inside three feet, only for the subsequent putt to
lip out on the left edge.
The
pair returned to the 18th tee with light fading and Grillo blocked his
drive into a fairway bunker before making heavy contact with his second,
but Na then opted to hit driver off the deck from the fairway and
duck-hooked his ball into the rough on the left. "I've hit
probably five or six drivers off the deck this week, and I've hit it
perfect every time," Na explained afterwards. "I was very confident, I
think the only thing is that it was dark, it's a lot tougher, the ball
was above my feet. Maybe I should have hit three-wood, but if I were to
do it over again I'd probably still hit driver." Grillo knocked a
bold third from the semi-rough to 10 feet, and Na found a gap in the
trees with his third but his ball took a big first bounce and bounded
through the green into the dense grass at the rear. Na
was unable to get up and down to save his par, and Grillo stepped up to
roll his birdie putt into the centre of the cup to claim the opening
tournament of the 2015/16 US PGA Tour season and a cheque for $1,080,000. Grillo
had hit the headlines in the third round when he attempted to drive the
17th green and his ball was inches from hitting Rory McIlroy, who had
yet to complete the hole. "I didn't want to be the guy who almost
hit Rory McIlroy this week," Grillo joked after his victory. "I wanted
people to know me because I have the trophy. "I stayed positive,
hit a great shot and luckily Kevin made a six. I was just focused on my
putt, didn't even look at his, hit a perfect putt and it went in."
Victory
provides a pass into the Masters for Grillo, who is relishing
the chance to make his debut at Augusta in April. "You say Masters... I
can't believe it," Grillo said. "This is awesome, this is great. "When
I got the (tour) card, after the Web.com Championship, I saw I was
71, 72 in the world, so I said to my team, 'We've got a chance to get in
the top 50 by the end of the year, let's try to get it done and maybe
we can play the tournaments we always wanted'." Grillo and Na
finished a shot ahead of Tyrone Van Aswegen, Justin Thomas and Jason
Bohn, while Justin Rose was a further two strokes adrift on 12 under tied sixth on 279 ,
after a mixed-bag of a 72 on the final day. The Englishman was 14
under at the turn after birdies at eight and nine capped an outward 34,
but he bogeyed 12, 15 and 17 coming home and had to settle for a share
of sixth with Charl Schwartzel, Patrick Rodgers and Kyle Reifers. Steele,
who had led the tournament since opening with a course-record 63,
recovered from two early bogeys with a superb pitch-in for eagle at the
fifth, and he birdied the ninth and 10th to stay at the top of the
leaderboard. But he plummeted down the leaderboard with a horrific
run of five bogeys in six holes from the 12th and ended up with a 76 and in a tie for
17th on 10 under 278, one ahead of world No 3 Rory McIlroy who closed with a 69 for 279 and a share of 26th spot. Martin Laird had a horrendous weekend with back to back rounds of 74 and 76 to end on 286 and joint 64th place. FINAL TOTALS
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