SILVIS, Ill. — Brian Campbell won for the second time this year on the PGA Tour, with both victories via playoffs, when he closed with a 4-under-par 67 and beat Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo with a par on the first extra hole Sunday in the John Deere Classic.
It extended the win-or-bust season for Campbell, who won the Mexico Open in a playoff in late February. The 32-year-old American has finished out of the top 30 every tournament except for his two victories.
This one might be enough to get him into the British Open, depending on how high up he moves in the Official World Golf Ranking published Monday, traditionally used as the alternate list. The final major championship tournament of the year tees off July 17 at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
This win came a decade to the day Campbell, who played his college golf at the University of Illinois, made his PGA Tour debut on the same TPC Deere Run course.
“Right now it’s surreal,” Campbell said after Sunday’s victory. “I don’t know what’s going on. But, yeah, it all started here as an amateur, my first invite here. I’ve loved it ever since.
“I have no words. I mean, to be let alone in a playoff and to finish it off this way, it’s just been amazing.
Campbell appeared to have control of the tournament with three birdies in a four-hole stretch to start the back nine, but he fell back with a double bogey into the trees on the 15th, and it was a wild scramble to the finish.
Grillo, who also closed with a 67, took the lead when Campbell made a double bogey, only to three-putt for a bogey on the 16th.
Campbell, one of the shorter hitters on the PGA Tour, blasted a 3-wood to 18 feet for a two-putt birdie on the par-5 17th and narrowly missed a 25-foot birdie on the 18th. He was the first player to post at 18-under 266 in 72 holes of regulation.
Grillo got up and down for a birdie on the 17th, holing an eight-foot putt, and caught a bad break on the 18th when his drive settled into a divot. He hit a wedge shot to just inside 40 feet and two-putted for par to join Campbell at 266.
David Lipsky was poised to join them when he hit a punch 3-wood to eight feet for an eagle on the 17th to tie for the lead. However, he hooked his drive on the 18th, couldn’t reach the green, and his 15-foot par putt to get into the playoff caught the left lip and spun away. He shot a 68 and tied for third with Kevin Roy (65).
The playoff lacked any real drama. Campbell hit a beautiful trap draw to about 15 feet on the 18th. Grillo, who caught a break when his drive to the right was sitting up in trampled rough, went long over the green. His flop shot didn’t quite reach the putting surface, and his par attempt from some 25 feet never had a chance.
“I got myself there. I gave myself a chance,” Grillo said. “I made some good putts. Hit a good putt on the 72nd, and that’s all I can do.”
Grillo’s two PGA Tour career wins are also via playoffs; he won the 2015 Frys.com Open and the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge with a birdie on the second extra hole in each case. He’s now 2-2 in bonus golf, having lost on the first extra hole at the 2015 Puerto Rico Open in a four-man playoff.
Chattanooga native Keith Mitchell tied for 44th at 8 under. The Baylor School graduate closed with a 68.
Victory emotional, special for Brown
MUNICH — Daniel Brown was in tears after going through an “out-of-body experience” while winning the DP World Tour’s BMW International Open by two strokes Sunday, days after the death of a close friend.
Brown, a 30-year-old Englishman who’s ranked 170th in the world, shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 in the final round to capture his second victory on the Europe-based circuit. His maiden win was the 2023 ISPS Handa World Invitational.
Brown started the day with a one-shot lead over countryman Jordan Smith, birdied four of his first six holes, and picked up two more birdies coming home to finish the 72-hole tournament at 22-under 266.
Smith (67) was alone in second, with New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori (63) third at 18 under.
After making his sixth and final birdie of the day at the par-5 18th, Brown walked off the green and started to cry.
“I lost a friend at home last weekend,” he said, before pausing and holding back more tears. “It’s for him.”
Brown said that was his motivation to win at Golfclub München Eichenried.
“The last two days I kept thinking about him,” he said. “I tried not to get too emotional in the process. I’m not really too sure what happened today. All day really was like an out-of-body experience.
“He was there with me, and it made it a little bit easier.”
Amateur wins Women’s Irish Open
MAYNOOTH, Ireland — England’s Lottie Woad became the first amateur in three years to win a Ladies European Tour title when she finished off a six-shot victory at the Women’s Irish Open.
The 21-year-old Woad, No. 1 in the world ranking for amateur women’s golfers, entered the final round with a seven-stroke lead and closed with a 4-under 69 to finish at 21-under 271 for 72 holes.
Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom, an LPGA Tour member with two wins on the U.S.-based circuit, was second after a final round of 68. New Zealand’s Amelia Garvey (67) was third at 14 under, one shot behind Sagstrom.
The most recent time an amateur had earned a victory on the Ladies European Tour was in 2022, when Jana Melichova of the Czech Republic won the Czech Ladies Open.