Local golf | IMG Academy alum Emiliano Grillo on upward trajectory after PGA Tour rookie debut
What a meteoric rise for former IMG Academy standout Emiliano Grillo. The 23-year-old Argentine turned pro instead of heading to college following his IMG days. He then qualified for the European Tour through Q-School, and eventually made it back stateside for the Web.com Tour. Grillo won the Web.com Tour Championship the first week of October to earn his PGA Tour card. So what did he do? Grillo made the most of his rookie debut by besting Kevin Na in last week's Frys.com Open in Napa, Calif. Quite the surge up the golf ladder, indeed.
Bradenton's Kevin Shook is still smashing golf balls a long, long way. Shook was just ousted in the 2015 World Long Drive Championship in Thackerville, Okla., by the narrowest of margins.
Shook was eliminated in the Round of 16 after his 368-yard drive fell to Jeff Gavin's 369-yard drive on Tuesday.
Manatee County is well-represented at this week's LPGA Tour Qualifying School in Venice. Bradenton's Nelly Korda, Lakewood Ranch alum Ericka Schneider, Manatee alum Jennifer Neville, IMG Academy alum Christina Miller and Bradenton's Ginger Howard are all playing this week's second stage of Q-School, held at Plantation Golf & Country Club. The event begins Thursday and wraps up Sunday. Tee times range from 8 a.m. until 1:27 p.m. on both the Panther and Bobcat courses.
Players that make the cut this week will advance to the final stage at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, which scheduled for Nov. 30-Dec. 6. The cut line is not known as of this time.
Lakewood Ranch's Chris Kennedy, a former Cardinal Mooney and Univeristy of North Florida star, narrowly missed out on advancing from the first stage of Web.com Tour Qualifying School at West Palm Beach. Playing The Breakers Rees Jones course, Kennedy posted a 1-under par 287 for the 72-hole tournament. However, that placed him in a tie for 30th place. Only the top 23 and ties advanced to the second stage, which went to golfers that were at 3-under par 285 or lower.
-- Jason Dill, Herald sports reporter
This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 12:09 AM with the headline "Local golf | IMG Academy alum Emiliano Grillo on upward trajectory after PGA Tour rookie debut ."