Emiliano Grillo wins 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge in playoff

Seven years, seven months and 10 days.

That’s how long Emiliano Grillo waited to secure his second PGA Tour victory.

“They say the second is harder than the first and it definitely was,” Grillo said.

The 30-year-old Argentine overcame a double bogey at the 72^nd hole to shoot 2-under 68 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday and defeat Adam Schenk in a two-hole playoff at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Grillo’s 9-iron at the second playoff hole headed right but landed just to the left of a greenside bunker and kicked on the green, stopping 8 feet from the hole and he took advantage of his generous bounce by sinking the winning putt.

Grillo erased a four-stroke deficit entering the final round, carding six birdies in regulation and pumping his fist as his last of the bunch, a 20-foot birdie putt at 16, dropped in to take the lead. But there would still be plenty of drama to come.

Grillo, who left Argentina at age 16 to study and hone his golf skills at the IMG Academy for golf in Bradenton, Forida, notched his first win in near record time. After triumphing at the 2015 Korn Ferry Tour Championship in October, Grillo was victorious in his next start, two weeks later, at the PGA Tour’s season-opening Frys.com Open, to become the sixth player from Argentina to win on the PGA Tour and the first player to win in his first start as an official Tour member since Russell Henley at the 2013 Sony Open in Hawaii. But that turned out to be the last trophy for Grillo until he slipped into the tartan-plaid jacket.

Grillo made four birdies on the front nine – all from inside 10 feet – and then his putter, which has been the biggest weakness in his game, warmed up. Grillo entered the week ranked No. 134 in Strokes Gained: Putting, but he ranked second this week in that category. He canned a 17-foot birdie putt at 12 and the 20-footer at 16.

But winning is never easy and Grillo squandered a two-stroke lead coming home. He pushed his tee shot into trouble at 18 and had to take a penalty stroke when his ball landed in an aqueduct. The strength of the stream sent it some 50 yards back towards the tee, but he was allowed to drop where it originally entered the water and chose to place it on the cart path. The damage was done as he slipped back into a tie, signing for a 72-hole total of 8-under 272.

Bizarre scenes on 18.

Leader Emiliano Grillo’s tee shot finds a water stream and takes five minutes to eventually come to a stop.

Grillo takes a…