Monday 19 October 2015 14:39, UK
Emiliano Grillo snatched a life-changing maiden 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 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 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 in a tie for 17th on 10 under, one ahead of world No 3 Rory McIlroy.
