Hector Emiliano Grillo (; born 14 September 1992) is an Argentine professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2015 Frys.com Open and 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge on the PGA Tour.
Early years and amateur career In his youth, Grillo was a quarter-finalist at the 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur. He got the 2009 Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Award.
Professional career Grillo turned professional in 2011 and earned playing status on the European Tour via Qualifying School. He finished 10th in his first event, the 2012 Africa Open. He finished 94th in the 2012 European Tour Order of Merit and 89th in 2013.
In February 2014, Grillo had his best finish to date on the European Tour, when he finished runner-up behind Stephen Gallacher at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Later in the season he finished 8th at the BMW International Open and the BMW Masters, and 11th at the Turkish Airlines Open. He ended 44th on the European Tour Race to Dubai. He also won the Visa Open de Argentina on PGA Tour Latinoamérica.
Grillo began the 2015 European Tour season with a third place at the Volvo China Open, a fifth place at the Qatar Masters, a sixth place at the Open de España and an 11th place at the Shenzhen International. He finished fourth at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai and 40th on the Race to Dubai.
Also in 2015, Grillo lost in a five-man playoff at the Puerto Rico Open on the PGA Tour, playing on a sponsor's exemption, and finished tenth at the Barbasol Championship. In just seven starts, he earned enough to qualify for the 2015 Web.com Tour Finals. He claimed a ninth place at the Hotel Fitness Championship, a runner-up at the Small Business Connection Championship and a first place at the Web.com Tour Championship. Therefore, he finished second on the Finals money list and got a card for the 2016 PGA Tour. Since Grillo only played in seven events during the 2014–15 season, he was still considered a rookie for the 2015–16 season.
In his eighth career PGA Tour event and first as a member, Grillo won the season-opening Frys.com Open on the 2016 PGA Tour, after beating veteran Kevin Na in a sudden-death playoff. He made a 25-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole for 3-under-par 69, which was later tied by Na. Grillo then missed a three-foot putt for victory on the first playoff hole, but sealed the win on the second hole with a birdie after Na ended up behind a tree and could only make bogey. The victory gained Grillo entry to the Masters and the 2016 PGA Championship. He also moved up to 36th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
At the 2016 major tournaments, Grillo finished 12th at the Open Championship, 13th at the PGA Championship, 17th at the Masters and 54th at the U.S. Open, with score cards of 283, 274, 292 and 293. He was runner-up at the Japan Golf Tour's ISPS Handa Global Cup. He was voted 2016 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.
On 28 May 2023, Grillo snapped a nearly eight-year winless drought by winning the Charles Schwab Challenge for his second PGA Tour victory. He carried a two-shot lead to the 72nd hole, but his tee shot ended up in a stream and took 5 minutes before it came to a stop. After taking a penalty from where it entered the hazard, he made double bogey putting him into a playoff with Adam Schenk. Grillo and Schenk both made pars on the first playoff hole before Grillo birdied the second playoff hole to seal the victory.
Amateur wins 2007 Pereira Iraola Cup (as low amateur at the Argentine Open) 2009 Pereira Iraola Cup (as low amateur at the Argentine Open) 2011 Terra Cotta Invitational
Professional wins (4) PGA Tour wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up118 Oct 2015Frys.com Open68-71-65-69=273−15Playoff Kevin Na228 May 2023Charles Schwab Challenge67-65-72-68=272−8Playoff Adam Schenk
PGA Tour playoff record (2–2) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12015Puerto Rico Open Alex Čejka, Jon Curran, Tim Petrovic, Sam SaundersČejka won with birdie on first extra hole22015Frys.com Open Kevin NaWon with birdie on second extra hole32023Charles Schwab Challenge Adam SchenkWon with birdie on second extra hole42025John Deere Classic Brian CampbellLost to par on first extra hole
Web.com Tour wins (1) Legend Finals events (1) Other Web.com Tour (0) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up14 Oct 2015Web.com Tour Championship66-64-67-69=266−141 stroke Chez Reavie
PGA Tour Latinoamérica wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up17 Dec 2014Visa Open de Argentina66-68-65-67=266−186 strokes Brad Hopfinger
Playoff record Japan Golf Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12016ISPS Handa Global Cup Park Jun-wonLost to birdie on first extra hole
Results in major championships Results not in chronological order in 2020. Tournament2015 2016 2017 2018Masters TournamentT1751U.S. OpenT54CUTCUTThe Open ChampionshipT12CUTCUTPGA ChampionshipT61T13CUTT31 Tournament20192020202120222023202420252026Masters TournamentT62CUTPGA ChampionshipT23T66T38CUTCUTCUTU.S. OpenT58CUTT41T19T23The Open ChampionshipCUTNTT12CUTT6T43
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 3PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 2 10 6U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 5The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 1 3 8 4Totals 0 0 0 0 1 7 30 18 Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2015 PGA – 2017 Masters) Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (2023 Open Championship)
Results in The Players Championship Tournament20162017201820192020202120222023202420252026The Players ChampionshipCUT11T37T26CCUTCUTCUTT5467CUT CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place C = cancelled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019ChampionshipT47T52T58Match PlayT38T51T40InvitationalT14T50T66ChampionsT3511T14
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = tied
Team appearances Amateur Eisenhower Trophy (representing Argentina): 2008, 2010
Professional World Cup (representing Argentina): 2013 Presidents Cup (representing the International team): 2017
See also 2011 European Tour Qualifying School graduates 2015 Web.com Tour Finals graduates
References
External links
Emiliano Grillo at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (archived, alternate link)