Get to Know Rookie of the Year Candidate Emiliano Grillo

This past week marked the start of the 2015-16 PGA TOUR season with the Frys.com Open. If you weren’t paying attention to the Web.com Finals, then Grillo may have taken you by surprise when he won the first tournament of the year. However, this young man is just starting to make a name for himself.

Grillo won in his PGA TOUR debut by defeating Kevin Na in a two-hole playoff at the Frys.com Open to win his second tournament in as many starts. The tournament before his TOUR debut was at the Web.com Tour Championship, which he won after draining a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole.

For being a lad fresh on the scene, the Argentinian sure knows how to get in the winner’s circle, but where’d he come from? To understand Grillo’s journey, we must first look at the Class of 2011.

EMMMILIIIIIIII first of many wins! Cool seeing the 11s always playing great @GrilloEmiliano @JustinThomas34 @PRodgersGolf @DanielBerger59
— Jordan Spieth (@JordanSpieth) October 19, 2015

Grillo is a part of the “Class of 2011” (the year they would have graduated high school) which is headlined by Jordan Spieth, 2015 Rookie of the Year Daniel Berger, and Justin Thomas among others.

This fresh crop of golfers is taking the PGA TOUR by storm and seem to climbing up the leaderboards week after week. Whether they are too young to realize how good they are or simply don’t care, these young guns know how to win.

The 23 year old’s journey began after he decided to skip college and turn pro. Grillo took his talents to the European Tour when he earned playing status through qualifying school. Emiliano cracked the top 10 in his first event on the Tour and finished his rookie season in the top 100 of the Order of Merit.

His best finish on the European Tour came at the 2014 Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Grillo was runner-up to Stephen Gallacher at that event and followed with an eighth place finish at the BMW International Open, eighth at the BMW Masters, and 11th at the Turkish Airlines Open. He finished 44th in the Race to Dubai standings that season.

Grillo followed his rookie season on the European Tour with another impressive showing in 2015. His best finishes include a tie for fifth at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, a tie for third at the Volvo China Open, and a solo sixth at the Open de España.

On the PGA TOUR side of things, Grillo entered the Puerto Rico Open on a sponsor’s exemption and was able to finish as runner-up after he missed a three-foot putt to win. He also placed 10th at the Barbasol Championship.

In just seven events on the PGA TOUR, Grillo was able to earn enough money to qualify for the Web.com Finals. Through his efforts in the finals, Emiliano did well enough to place in second place on the money list, thus landing himself a PGA TOUR card for the 2015-16 season. Since he only played in seven events on TOUR last year, he’s considered a rookie for this season.