Emiliano Grillo lands first PGA Tour title California

Argentinian Emiliano Grillo landed his first PGA Tour title as he fended off Kevin Na in a play-off at the Frys.com Open in Napa Valley, California.

Na paid the price for hooking into the rough when opting to take driver off the fairway with his second shot at the second play-off hole, as they replayed the 18th until the champion was crowned.

The American could only make a bogey six, while Grillo putted out for a birdie, to triumph at the first tournament of the new season, just a fortnight after earning his tour card by winning the second-tier Web.com Tour Championship.

The pair had finished locked together on 15 under par after 72 holes, Grillo after closing with a 69 and Na following a 70 that included four birdies in the final six holes.

Na had been handed a reprieve minutes before he erred off the fairway, when Grillo missed a close-range putt for the championship during their first replaying of the 18th.

The experienced South Korean-born 32-year-old was therefore holding nothing back as they again played the closing hole, and was confident his choice of shot was the right one, even after the event.

Na said: “I’ve hit probably five or six drivers off the deck this week. I’ve hit it perfect every time.

“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, 23, avoided being distracted by the drama and applied heavy pressure onto Na by sending his own third shot to around 10 feet away from the flag.

Na could only go through the green with his third shot, and despite attacking the pin with his fourth, chipping close to the hole, the ball ran well past. He missed the putt back, effectively handing over the title.

Grillo made his birdie putt, quarter of an hour after many feared he had missed his big chance.

“I stayed positive, hit a great shot and luckily Kevin made a six,” Grillo said on Sky Sports.

“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’.”

His triumph came a day after he almost floored Rory McIlroy by the 17th green. When faced with a blind drive and believing the path to be clear, Grillo offloaded from the tee and was “a couple of inches” away, according to McIlroy, from hitting the world number three.

McIlroy finished the tournament down in a tie for 26th, ending with a round of 69, while Justin Rose’s challenge faded over the closing holes, having put himself in contention.

England’s world number seven was 14 under for the tournament at the turn, but his round disintegrated and he signed for a level-par 72 to finish 12 under, tied for sixth with South African Charl Schwartzel and Americans Kyle Reifers and Patrick Rodgers.

Americans Justin Thomas and Jason Bohn tied for third place on 14 under with South African Tyrone Van Aswegen.

Brendan Steele, who led through 18, 36 and 54 holes, imploded with five bogeys in the last six holes for a four-over 76 and trailed home 17th, his high hopes of a second PGA Tour title and first since April 2011 left in tatters.