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Emiliano Grillo could have hit a moving ball?!?

That and all the other crazy things we learned from his bizarre rules incident over the weekend including cart path drops…

We admit to being guilty from time to time of overusing the terms “bizarre” and “rules incident” in the same sentence. But we’re not entirely sure how to more aptly characterize what happened to Emiliano Grillo on the 72nd hole of the Charles Schwab Challenge than as, well, a “bizarre rules incident.”
It all becomes more, ahem, bizarre thanks to the fact that Grillo overcame the double-bogey 6 he would make on the 72nd hole to win in a playoff anyway, ending a nearly eight-year PGA Tour victory drought when he looked like it was drifting away down that aqueduct along the 18th hole.
Here then is our attempt at explaining what went down and why it was so … again, sorry, bizarre…
The set-up
Grillo started the day at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth four shots back of Harry Hall and Adam Schenk but made a furious charge, birdieing four of his first seven holes. As Schenk and Hall struggled down the stretch, both searching for their first PGA Tour wins, Grillo took a two-shot lead with another birdie on the par-3 16th. That was his advantage as he stood on the 18th tee at 10 under for the tournament.
All wet off the tee
Despite being ahead by two, Grillo used a driver off the tee, the ball leaking quickly to the right. It eventually found its way into a penalty area to the right of the fairway, in an aqueduct with water about two to three inches deep.
Downstream issues
The aqueduct tilted downhill back toward the tee, so as the ball entered the water, it started following the flow and moving backward. Slowly. Very slowly …

The rules explained
Mark Dusbabek, the PGA Tour rules official working the broadcast, helped explain to Jim Nantz, Trevor Immelman, and the CBS crew what was going on in real-time as he was also listening in to the rules team’s discussions. Dusbabek explained that they had identified where the ball had entered the penalty area (roughly 187 yards away from the hole), which was the likely place Grillo would take a drop and play what would be his third shot with the penalty stroke. However, as the ball continued moving—as we said very slowly—down the aqueduct, there was the potential that Grillo could actually play the ball while it was moving.
Rule 10.1d notes that “A player must not make a stroke at a moving ball.” However, there are a few exceptions also listed. Exception 3 states, “When a ball is moving in temporary water or in water in a penalty area, the player may make a stroke.”
Dusbabek noted the potential for Grillo to hit the moving ball, but did Grillo know he could? Turns out he likely did, since he’d been in this aqueduct before.
“I’ve hit it there,” Grillo said after the round. “I knew, as soon as I saw the ball going right, I was like, ‘This is going to be a very long hole.’ I’ve been through that pain of watching the ball just roll 120 yards back.”
Decision time
As the ball kept moving, however, Dusbabek explained that eventually, Grillo had to make up his mind on how he wanted to proceed. He couldn’t wait forever to see if the ball would stop in a more advantageous spot or not or if he was set to hit it while it was moving. And after roughly seven minutes, Dusbabek even interjected that the committee had decided enough was enough and that Grillo would have to decide to play the ball where it entered the penalty area (or presumably take a stroke and distance penalty and go back to the tee).
“We as a committee have been talking about it but enough time has taken place and he has been given enough time to make a decision here, so we’re going to make him go back to where it last crossed,” Dusbabek said.
Moments later, the ball did stop against a rock, roughly 140 yards or so from where it entered the penalty area.
Third shot off a cart path?!?
The camera eventually showed Grillo taking a penalty drop just outside the aqueduct but the ball rolling back in. He did this twice and then placed the ball on the concrete, which got the curiosity of Immelman.
“Dus, why was he allowed to drop it on the path right there?”
Dusbabek alerted everyone that the red line for the penalty area was right of where he took the drop. So the cement path was not in the penalty area, and is considered an immovable obstruction. Grillo didn’t seem to be phased by it as he showed no hesitation in what was going to happen next.
Grillo played his third shot off the concrete, getting a pretty clean shot off. The ball advanced 146 yards, leaving him 44 yards left to get up and down for a bogey, that would still have given him a one-shot lead. But the fourth shot stopped 19 feet from the hole and he missed the bogey putt.
The rest of the story
To his credit, Grillo didn’t mope around after his stumble, signing for a two-under 68 and waiting to see what would happen to Schenk and Hall as they played the 18th hole. Sure enough, Hall also found water, although the more traditional sort, as he pulled his drive into a small pond left of the fairway. He’d eventually make a bogey to finish tied for third.
Schenk had a chance to win in regulation with a birdie try from 15 feet but just came up short, forcing a playoff. They both replayed the 18th for the first sudden-death hole, Grillo finding the fairway this time. Pars from both sent them to the par-3 16th, where a birdie from Grillo would clinch the victory.

When JJ Spaun stood over a 64-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont, few could have predicted what would come next. The ball meandered across the slick green, trickling over every contour, picking up speed at the crest, and then—like it had GPS—dropped center cup. Spaun dropped his putter, raised his arms, and the crowd erupted. With that single stroke, he claimed his first major title in one of the most dramatic finishes in U.S. Open history.
But how does Spaun’s putt stack up against other legendary finishes in the tournament’s storied past? Let’s break down some of the most iconic moments and see where this one lands.
1. Payne Stewart – 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst
Perhaps the most iconic putt in U.S. Open history came from Payne Stewart, who nailed a 15-footer for par on the 18th to win by one over Phil Mickelson. The pose—fist pump and outstretched leg—has since been immortalized in a statue at Pinehurst. What made it legendary wasn’t just the putt—it was the context: Stewart’s final major before his tragic death just months later.
Verdict: Iconic and emotional. Spaun’s putt was longer, but Stewart’s was more poetic.
2. Tiger Woods – 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines
Woods drained a 12-foot birdie on the 72nd hole to force a playoff with Rocco Mediate—while basically playing on one leg. That tournament went to sudden death after an 18-hole playoff, and Tiger prevailed. This was peak Tiger drama, pain and all.
Verdict: Spaun’s putt was longer, but Tiger’s win was sheer willpower and mystique.
3. Jack Nicklaus – 1972 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach
With a 1-iron shot that hit the flagstick on 17 and a crucial birdie putt on 18, Jack sealed a dominant win. His precision and timing under pressure showed why he’s the GOAT.
Verdict: Not a putt for the win, but a signature finishing statement from Jack. Spaun’s was more electric in terms of pure putter drama.
4. Ben Hogan – 1950 U.S. Open at Merion
Hogan’s 1-iron into the 18th fairway and the par to force a playoff—just 16 months after a near-fatal car crash—remain legendary. He won the playoff and completed one of golf’s great comeback stories.
Verdict: Larger-than-life comeback. Spaun’s putt had more flair, but Hogan’s win was heroic.
5. JJ Spaun – 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont
Let’s not underestimate what Spaun accomplished. The pressure was immense. He wasn’t the favorite. And on the most treacherous greens in golf, he buried a 64-foot bomb—a putt most players would be happy to lag to within 5 feet—to win the U.S. Open outright.
Verdict: For distance, surprise, and drama, Spaun’s putt may be the most shocking winning stroke in U.S. Open history.
Final Thoughts
JJ Spaun may not have the résumé of a Nicklaus or Woods, but for one Sunday afternoon in June 2025, he created a moment that will live in golf lore forever. Spaun’s putt was longer than Stewart’s, more unexpected than Tiger’s, and more dramatic than any final-hole finish in recent memory.
In terms of pure clutch putting? It might just be the greatest walk-off in U.S. Open history.
Blog
The Zen of the Shank: Finding Inner Peace in Your Worst Shots
Find your inner peace even when you aren’t playing well.

Ah, the shank. That glorious, unpredictable misfire that sends your pristine golf ball screaming sideways, often directly into the unsuspecting shins of your playing partner, or perhaps, with a touch of poetic irony, into the very lake you’ve been trying to avoid all day. Most golfers, bless their earnest little hearts, view the shank as a catastrophic failure, a blight upon their scorecard, a testament to their inherent lack of coordination. They curse, they throw clubs, they contemplate a career in competitive thumb-wrestling. But not I. No, my friends, for I, Ty Webb, have found enlightenment in the humble shank.
You see, the shank is not a mistake; it’s a revelation. It’s the universe’s way of reminding you that control is an illusion, that perfection is a myth, and that sometimes, the most direct path to your goal is, in fact, a wildly indirect one. Think of it as a philosophical detour, a sudden, unexpected journey into the unknown. One moment, you’re aiming for the green, a paragon of precision and intent. The next, your ball is ricocheting off a tree, narrowly missing a squirrel, and landing, by some divine comedic intervention, closer to the hole than your perfectly struck drive ever would have. Is that not a miracle? Is that not a sign that the golf gods, much like life itself, have a wicked sense of humor?
The key, my dear apprentices of the links, is acceptance. Embrace the shank. Welcome it with open arms, like a long-lost, slightly inebriated relative. When that familiar, sickening thwack echoes through the air, do not despair. Instead, take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Feel the gentle breeze on your face. And then, with a knowing smile, open them and observe the chaos you have wrought. Is it not beautiful in its own chaotic way? Is there not a certain freedom in relinquishing control, in allowing the ball to choose its own destiny, however bizarre that destiny may be?
Some say the shank is a sign of poor technique. I say it’s a sign of a vibrant, untamed spirit. A golfer who never shanks is a golfer who has never truly lived, never truly explored the outer limits of their own golfing absurdity. They are content with mediocrity, with predictable trajectories and mundane outcomes. But you, my enlightened few, you understand that the true joy of golf lies not in the score, but in the story. And what a story a good shank can tell.

So, the next time you feel that familiar tremor of a shank brewing, don’t fight it. Let it flow. Let it be. For in the heart of every shank lies a lesson, a laugh, and perhaps, just perhaps, a path to a lower score you never saw coming. After all, as the great philosopher Basho once said, “A flute with no holes, is not a flute. A donut with no hole, is a Danish.” And a golf game without a shank? Well, that’s just not golf, is it?
Blog
Meet The Canadian Open Qualifier Tied To ClickIt Golf!
“This week was incredible,” he said. “A dream come true.”

Josh Goldenberg doesn’t plan to quit his day job. But he had a great time dabbling in his old career.

He gave up on pro golf, then qualified for his first PGA Tour event.
Read the full story here
https://golf.com/news/josh-goldenberg-rbc-canadian-open/?amp=1
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