Young Argentine rookie Emiliano Grillo has a lot to look forward to after winning in his debut as a US PGA Tour member.
The 23-year-old, who earned his card just two weeks ago by winning the Web.com Tour Championship, sank a birdie putt on the second playoff hole to outlast American Kevin Na in the season-opening Frys.com Open in Napa, California.
Already being touted as rookie of the year contender, Grillo had fired a closing three-under-par 69 to tie with Na (70) at 15-under 273, draining a long birdie putt on the 72nd hole to set up the playoff.
Grillo's previous appearances on the US tour came through sponsor's invitations but he showed he could compete on the big stage, losing in a playoff to Alex Cejka of Germany in the Puerto Rico Open and tying for 10th in the Barbasol Championship.
Grillo has won his last two tournaments in thrillers. He made a 25-foot birdie putt on final hole of the Web.com Tour Championship and earned $US180,000 ($A248,070). This one was worth a lot more.
Not only did he earn $US1.08 million ($A1.49 million), he's going to the Masters next April.
"You say Masters, I can't believe it," Grillo said. "When I got the (PGA Tour) card after the Web.com Championship, I saw I was 71 or 72 in the world and said, 'We got a chance of getting top 50 by the end of the year, let's try to get it done.'
"Maybe we can play the tournaments we always wanted to play."
Grillo moves to about No.36 in the world ranking, which puts him in the HSBC Champions in Shanghai and the Bridgestone Invitational, two World Golf Championships events.
He's also in the US PGA Championship and The Players Championship, both offering $10 million purses.
It was a poor tournament for the Australians. Aaron Baddeley was best-placed at tied 55th while Stuart Appleby (T69) was the only other Australian to make the cut.
The tournament represented a low-key start for the tour, with most of the big names resting and the field comprising mainly lesser lights.
Grillo had a three-foot putt for the win on the first playoff hole but his ball just caught the left edge and stayed out.
He and Na both parred the hole so that sent them back to the tee off the par-five 18th again to try and decided the winner.
Na hit a nice tee shot, but he chose to go with a driver off the fairway on his second and hooked it behind a tree. That left him with a tricky third shot from the rough.
He managed to avoid the tree, but his ball sailed past the hole and landed on the other side of the green. His first putt also went long, opening the door for Grillo to win it with a birdie.
South Africa's Tyrone Van Aswegen shot one of the best rounds of the day at four-under 68 despite starting his morning in a California hospital. He finished tied for third with Justin Thomas and Jason Bohn who shot 69 and 70 respectively.
World No.3 Rory McIlroy shot a three-under 69 for a nine-under 279, six strokes off the pace.
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