At the Charles Schwab Challenge on Sunday, no one was spared in the game of golf until the very last hole.
On the 72nd hole, Harry Hall, a rookie on the PGA TOUR who led for most of the competition, had a chance. He only slightly tugged on his drive.
His shot at the 435-yard par-4 went into the renowned pond to the left of the fairway and green. Emiliano Grillo was in a playoff with him at the time, but Grillo had just lost his battle with the sport’s inevitabilities. A devastating bogey there gave him a 3-over 73, a finish at 7-under, and an immediate expulsion.
“Today, I made a couple of foolish decisions,” said Hall, a 25-year-old Englishman.
To be clear, he made a few wise decisions. In his debut start at Colonial, Hall scored 62–66. Through 72 holes, he had nearly eight strokes gained in putting, making him the best putter in the competition.
On a course with greens that were getting close to U.S. Open firmness, Adam Schenk, who played in the final group with Hall on Sunday, had his own personal disaster happen at the worst possible time.
With a calm round of 72 and a par at the last, Schenk qualified for the playoff at 8-under 272. On the opening 18th par-4 playoff hole, he and Grillo both recorded pars. At the second hole’s 185-yard par-3, Grillo hit a daring tee shot that landed at 4 feet. Schenk stared. Then, Schenk understood what needed to be done.
With an 8-iron, Schenk successfully completed the hole-in regulation. He believed that Sunday’s wind the strongest of the week was comparable to sudden death.
He employed the same club.
It launched without a spin and traveled one mile.
The 8-iron sailed the green after traveling 197 yards. With a flawless chip, he narrowly missed Grillo’s putt.
He never had the chance to make the putt which takes us to Grillo, the 2023 champion.
On the 18th hole, the two-time TOUR champion from Argentina took up a position with a two-shot advantage at 10-under. His drive took a tragic bounce into the concrete ditch to the right of the fairway because he swiped it. His ball was nearly dragged back to the tee by running water, with television cameras capturing the entire incident.
Grillo took a drop shot from 189 yards out after agreeing to a penalty stroke. He ended his round of 68 with a double-bogey after adding another four shots.
Grillo’s tee shot on the 16th bounced on the crest of a greenside bunker, inches from the sand, after tying Schenk on the opening hole of the playoff. Everything was possible. The ball is plugged if you move just a tiny bit to the right. It never catches the grade if it is a little more to the left. If it’s too short, the hole will never be filled.
Yet it was flawless. When Schenk, who was batting second, kicked the ball from the bunker edge, it was close enough for Schenk to notice how short it was.
“I ran the entire slope and came pretty close,” Grillo stated. His swing on the winning short putt was as sure as they come.
“Clearly, it’s fantastic,” said Grillo, who most recently triumphed in a playoff at the Fortinet Championship in October 2015.
“It justified everything. playing, all the hours spent practicing, and my family’s work,” he said.
Grillo won $5,000 and became the second Argentine to triumph at Colonial since Roberto De Vicenzo’s 4-over 284 in 1957.
“When you first started playing, all of your feelings flooded through your mind. Although difficult, it has been worthwhile in every way.” Grillo said.
His career earnings rose to $16.8 million after winning $1.566 million. He earned 500 FedExCup points, moving him up to 18th overall for the season from 57th. His tenacity was rewarded on a Colonial Country Club course where the greens, in particular, were getting firmer by the day. The players discussed the adjustments they needed to make to account for the varied hops, skips, and jumps they anticipated on approach shots throughout the entire weekend.
“I think that round of golf was the most difficult I’ve ever played. Everyone finds the course challenging, but it was stretched to the extreme.” Schenk said.
Since Olin Browne won in 1999, his and Grillo’s four-round total of 272 was the highest at Colonial. He tied for third with Scottie Scheffler, who shot 67 and had an ace on the eighth par-3, for the highest result of his career. Hall made a lot of effort to find motivation. But even on a course that kept growing darker, a weekend of 72-73 left Hall with plenty to ponder and little to say. He declared that he was eager to return to Las Vegas.
“I simply looked. After this week, I have 162 FedExCup points. I would have taken that if you had offered it to me earlier in the week.” Hall said.
“I discovered that you don’t need to play well to win on a challenging course in the final few holes. Simply hit it in the middle of the green and avoid making any dumb decisions,” he added.
This was exactly what Grillo did, right when it counted.
