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 After missing a three-footer that would have won it at the first
extra hole, Grillo made amends at the next, the par-five 18th, with
an eight-foot birdie to edge Na at the Silverado Resort in Napa.
A day after almost hitting Rory McIlroy with his drive at the
reachable par-four 17th, Grillo became the sixth Argentine player to
win on the American circuit, joining Roberto de Vicenzo, Jose
Coceres, Angel Cabrera, Andres Romero and Fabian Gomez.
It is the second successive victory for the 23-year-old, who won the
Web.com Tour Championship on the secondary circuit two weeks ago.
Grillo sank a 25-foot birdie at the final regulation hole to earn a
spot in the playoff, but almost threw away the first event on the
2015-16 PGA Tour season when he lipped out his short putt that would
have won it at the first extra hole.
The putt was eerily similar to one he missed at the 72nd hole that
would have won the Puerto Rico Open in March, though Grillo claimed
that this time he did not hit a bad putt.
"The difference is I hit this one good," he said in a greenside
interview. "I don't know what happened (but) I stayed positive. This
is awesome."
After Na made a mess of the second extra hole, Grillo had the luxury
of two-putting for victory, but he needed only one, ensuring he
would be remembered for more than being the guy who nearly hit
McIlroy.
Earlier, Grillo (69) and Na (70) finished at 15-under-par 273, one
stroke ahead of Americans Jason Bohn and Justin Thomas and South
African Tyrone Van Aswegen.
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Bohn held the sole lead with three holes left, but chunked a pitch
shot at the par-five 16th and made bogey.
Van Aswegen barely made his tee time after waking up dizzy and going
to hospital in an ambulance.
"I was not in good shape," he told Golf Channel. "They filled me
with two bags of fluid and said I had severe dehydration and
vertigo.
"If you go to the ER (emergency room), nothing's quick. I was trying
to speed them along. I was still in the hospital bed an hour before
the tee time. Thank goodness there was a slight fog delay."
Overnight leader Brendan Steele plunged out of contention with five
bogeys in a six-hole stretch on the back nine. He shot 76 to tie for
17th on 10-under, one stroke better than McIlroy (69).
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Greg
Stutchbury)
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