Pro overhead-tosses club into the woods. Then it got a little awkward

Emiliano Grillo

Emiliano Grill on Friday on the 13th hole at the Country Club of Jackson.

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What’s not to like about the video of Emiliano Grillo making the rounds?

For 10 seconds, you’re overwhelmed. We’ll start in chronological order. 

— There was the swing. Grillo is one of the best movers of irons — over three seasons, from 2018-19 to 2020-21, Grillo finished third, 13th and 12th in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green — and from the naked eye, everything looked right on his tee shot on Friday on the 146-yard, par-3 13th at the Country Club of Jackson. 

— There was the error. After what seemed like good impact during the Sanderson Farms Championship second round, Grillo was frustrated. Maybe this is what makes him great. Good wasn’t enough.  

— There was the one-second-after-impact, two-hand, from-behind-the-head club toss. You may enjoy this in two ways. On one hand, who doesn’t treasure a good heave from a pro? They come down to our level, at least for a sec. We don’t condone bad behavior, but we’re all human. 

Then there was the throw itself. Efficient. After briefly holding his follow-through, Grillo moved his iron a bit farther behind his head, then flicked it toward the trees on the left. Only after the club had left his hands did he look. The iron went a good 15 feet in the air. 

— There was the caddie. In the video, Javier Erviiti just watched the ball. 

— There was the broadcast. As Grillo’s club sailed, viewers were switched to the ball. Both were flying. The ball dropped after three seconds. 

— There was where it landed. After a few bounces, Grillo’s ball finished 11 feet from the hole. Wait, what? A club toss, after that? 

— There were the comments. After @lincolnduff tweeted out the clip, popular golf site No Laying Up retweeted it, and away it went with folks. 

A sampling:

“Wanted to hit a 5yd cut. Instead it went straight. I feel his pain…” wrote @klusterphluff.   

“When ya hit it a half groove off.. one has to show displeasure in the performance…..I get it!” wrote @golfsub70

“Sick,” wrote @lincolnduff, the sender of the video. 

Indeed. 

In the end, Grillo parred the hole, shot a five-under 67, and he started Saturday’s third round four shots out of the lead.

Nick Piastowski

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.