WATCH: Emiliano Grillo Hits Shots With Young Fans Before PGA Tour Win

The 30-year-old invited the boys to hit shots with him minutes before his Charles Schwab Challenge playoff

Emiliono Grillo invites two young fans to take shots with him at the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge
Emiliano Grillo hit shots with two young fans ahead of his Charles Schwab Challenge playoff
(Image credit: Twitter @PGATour)
Mike Hall
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To say Emiliano Grillo had an eventful final round in the Charles Schwab Challenge would be an understatement. 

The Argentinian claimed his first PGA Tour win in eight years at the event, but before that, he found an aqueduct with a wayward tee shot on the 72nd hole that led to a double-bogey and his two-shot lead disappearing.

After completing his round unsure of his fate with challenging Adam Schenk still on the course, the Argentinian returned to the first tee to prepare for a possible playoff against the American. While he warmed up, he invited two boys, Peyton and Sutton, to hit some balls with him, much to the delight of the lucky fans.

There’s no doubt Grillo’s decision had an immediate impact on the boys, with one saying: "That was probably the best thing ever! One day I’ll be like that and be on the PGA Tour.”

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Afterwards, Grillo explained his reason for the gesture, even with the high stakes as he attempted to win his first PGA Tour event since the 2015 Frys.com Open. He said: “It was a little bit of a trick to get my head out of the situation. There’s two kids right next to the first tee, and I’m like: ‘Hey, you guys want to hit balls?’

"They’re seven, eight years-old or however old they are. Jose Coceres [former PGA Tour player] did it with me when I was seven, eight years old, and that was the greatest experience of all, just watching him and hitting his clubs. I kind of got to do it with them, and hopefully they’ll remember that.

“It’s also something that it helped to get my mind off the situation. I just made a double. I basically gave the tournament away, and it wasn’t up to me. It wasn’t in my hands. It was a moment that I needed to get my head out of that.”

As for Grillo, it didn’t do him any harm, either, as he closed out victory with a birdie on the second playoff hole against Schenk.

That wasn’t the end of the excitement for the boys, either. Later, the 30-year-old invited them to the locker room, where he gave them a cap each and a glove to round off a day that neither the boys, nor Grillo, are ever likely to forget.

Mike Hall
Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.

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