WATCH: Emiliano Grillo's Ball Rolls Back 150 Yards After Landing In Aqueduct

The Argentinian's ball went on an unusual journey after a wayward tee shot at the Charles Schwab Challenge

Emiliano Grillo watches his ball roll in an aqueduct at the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge
Emiliano Grillo hit his tee shot into an aqueduct at the Charles Schwab Challenge
(Image credit: Twitter @PGATour)

Argentinian Emiliano Grillo won his first PGA Tour title in eight years in the Charles Schwab Challenge, but not before some extraordinary late drama.

Taking a two-shot lead into the 72nd hole, victory for the 30-year-old had seemed assured before a wayward tee shot went too far right and landed in an aqueduct within the penalty area. Thanks to the water’s current, the ball began rolling back towards the tee box. 

Grillo could have taken a shot with the ball moving at that point. Rule 10.1d of the Rules of Golf states: “A player must not make a stroke at a moving ball.” However, an exception reads: “When a ball is moving in temporary water or in water in a penalty area, the player may make a stroke.” He opted not to, and eventually, the ball came to rest in front of a stone, around 150 yards from its initial entry into the water.

That left Grillo with another decision - play the ball from there, or take a drop with a one-shot penalty. He opted for the latter, which he took from his line of entry into the aqueduct, albeit on concrete. Grillo’s third shot was then short of the green, and he eventually had to settle for a double-bogey, allowing Adam Schenk to force a playoff.  

Thankfully for Grillo, his ball’s encounter with the water didn’t prove too costly, as he eventually closed out victory at Colonial with a five-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole for his first win on the PGA Tour since the 2015 Frys.com Open.

After his win, Grillo relived the incident and explained he knew what was coming as soon as he’d sprayed his tee shot too far to the right. He said: “I’ve done it before. I’ve hit the exact same shot to the right of the tree. I knew it, when I saw one of the marshals walk right of the tree, I knew it was going to be a long wait until that ball stopped. It stopped for like five, ten seconds at one moment. I actually thought I got lucky. So I had a big window. Then five seconds later, the ball kept moving.”

“I tried my hardest to make a 5. I wasn’t able. I knew that, if I finish ahead of Scottie Scheffler, I was going to have a chance still. So I was - after my, whatever, third shot, that was my only goal was to have a chance for that 5.”

The win sees Grillo leap from from World No.80 to World No.42 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

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.