For the most part of Sunday afternoon at the Frys.com Open, it looked like the golf tournament no one wanted to win.
What transpired at Silverado Country Club in the first PGA Tour event of the 2015-16 season was a sequence of events that saw at least a half-dozen players with a good chance to win but none seemed to have the desire to step forward.
In the end, it was rookie Emiliano Grillo of Argentina getting the win in a crazy playoff with career journeyman Kevin Na.
It took 15-under to get into that playoff with both Na and Grillo making birdies at the 72nd hole to take the event into overtime. Once they got there, it looked like Grillo would end it quickly. After Na missed a 40-footer for birdie, Grillo was standing over a three-footer for birdie and sudden victory. He missed, surprising everyone, including Na.
“I missed a short one,” Grillo said afterward. “I hit it good, I don’t know what happened.”
The missed putt sent both players back to the 18th tee and it would be a horrible second shot by Na that brought the show to an end. Na tried to hit driver off the deck but he caught it fat and hit a smother hook into the left trees. “I hit five or six drivers off the deck this week,” Na said. “I hit all of them perfect except that one. If I had to do it again, I would.”
Na hit a miracle recovery that left him 45 feet away while Grillo hit a beauty from 139 yards that finished just seven feet below the hole. Na ran his birdie putt 10 feet past the hole and missed his par attempt. Grillo got up and buried the birdie putt for victory.
The win vaulted Grillo into the winner’s category on the tour. It earned him a trip to the 2016 Tournament of Champions, the 2016 Masters and 2016 PGA.
Na and a host of others will think back on their mistakes.
Overnight leader Brendan Steele was 15-under with just seven to play but bogeyed six of those seven holes coming home to shoot 76 and fall all the way into a tie for 17.
Justin Rose had it to 14-under at the turn and with his experience, he figured to be there at the end. But he played the final nine in two-over to dash his hopes.
Jason Bohn had the tournament in hand after he hit his tee shot at the difficult par three 15th within two feet. He made birdie there to get to 15-under with two par fives in front of him. He was in perfect position at 16 to make birdie, just 48 yards from the hole in two on the par five. He chunked his third like an 18-handicapper and ended up with bogey.
Bohn finished at 14-under and tied for third with Justin Thomas and Tyrone Van Aswegen.
It was a minor miracle that Aswegen got to play. He woke up Sunday morning with nausea and dizziness. He found himself in the hospital emergency room where he was given IV fluids. A 20 minute fog delay helped him make it for his tee time.
In all, it was a day to remember. There were mistakes and great shots.
In the end, it was the 23-year-old from Argentina who stepped up and changed the course of his budding professional career.
