Emiliano Grillo enjoying ‘happy days’ on the course again

Happy days.

That’s how Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo described his opening two rounds at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota.

Of Thursday’s bogey-free 67, he said, “I actually think it was one of my best rounds of the year. It almost felt like I almost had no chance of making bogey out there.” And his score was even lower on Friday despite one dropped shot, as the 29-year-old Grillo signed for a 6-under 65 at TPC Twin Cities to improve to 10-under 132 and grab the 36-hole clubhouse lead by two strokes over Callum Tarren.

“Anything under par on windy days, it’s a plus,” Grillo said. “I was able to manage the ball pretty well, and I was able to make the putts when I had the chance.”

For Grillo, his season had little to smile about until two weeks ago when he finished T-2 at the John Deere Classic, his first top 10 of the season and first overall since last May. That locked up his Tour card for next season and removed a gigantic weight off his shoulders.

Grillo is seeking his first PGA Tour title since the 2016 Frys.Com Open in his rookie season. He has always been a ball-striker par excellence but his putter is often more foe than friend. He’s only cracked the top-100 in Strokes Gained: Putting once, and has ranked as poorly at 192^nd in that category. He entered the week ranked No. 153, but gained more than 3 strokes on the field with his short stick on Friday. Nevertheless, Grillo said to ignore his putting stats.

“In this year, the days that I played bad around the greens, it’s just because I was hitting very poorly or I just didn’t want to be there,” he explained. “I would say that 90 percent of the rounds this year I putted really well. Obviously it helps when you hit it close and when you make a few that kind of gets your momentum going and the hole gets a little bit bigger.”

Grillo made four putts of more than 15 feet during his second round, including a 40-foot eagle putt at six and nearly had another at the 12^th, but missed the shorter eagle try from 7 feet.

“It’s kind of funny how this sport works, right?” Grillo said. “You hit it to 10 feet and you miss it, but you hit it to 35, 40 feet, 45 feet even and you make it. It’s a funny game.”

Tarren, a 31-year rookie from England, can relate. He switched putters for the first round and couldn’t buy a putt so he ended that trial and stuck it back in his locker, retrieving old faithful, an Odyssey No. 7 that he has used for seven or eight years now.

“It got…