SILVIS, Ill. — A former Fighting Illini was victorious in Illinois on Sunday.
Brian Campbell needed just one extra hole to dispatch Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo in a sudden death playoff to win the 2025 John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run on a Sunday that saw off-and-on rain showers all afternoon. It’s his second career PGA Tour victory and his second this season.
Campbell, a 32-year-old from Newport Beach, California, played his college golf at the University of Illinois, less than 200 miles from TPC Deere Run. He made his first PGA Tour start at the John Deere Classic as an amateur in 2015. He missed the cut that year, but a decade later, Campbell hoisted the trophy.
He was feeling the love from the locals all week.
“It’s awesome. I’ve never had this much support at any golf tournament, and so I never knew it would be this awesome to feel the crowd out there and get it done in this fashion.”
Campbell and Grillo each shot 4-under 67 on Sunday to finish at 18 under — the worst winning number at the John Deere Classic since Bryson Dechambeau won with the same score in 2017.
Campbell’s drive on the playoff hole – the par-4 18th – found the fairway, and he hit a textbook 7-iron from 193 yards to set up a prime birdie chance. He didn’t end up needing it, though, as Grillo hit his tee shot into the treeline on the right side of the fairway before going over the green with his second and duffing a pitch shot on his third to hand the win to Campbell, who two-putted for par.
Before that, Campbell — who moved up from 59th to 28th in the FedEx Cup Standings this week — appeared as if he might run away with the victory when he took a two-shot lead on the back nine, but a double bogey at the par-4 15th set him back into a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard.
“[It was a] horrible feeling in the moment. Just made a bad swing. I think the humidity made me slip just a little bit, and I knew it was in the hazard from the start. So I just kind of accepted it and I was like, ‘You know what, we’re still in this. There are a lot of holes left that I actually really like.’”
He’s become accustomed to the pressure of a playoff. His first career win on Tour came just four months ago at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld, where he defeated 20-year-old Aldrich Potgieter in two extra holes. Potgieter won the Rocket Classic in Detroit last week.
This week, it was Campbell’s turn again.
“It’s a little bit familiar from Mexico, but oh, man, just so over the moon to be in that position and to come back and finish it off. A lot of nerves that’s for sure, but I can’t believe we’re here. What a special event.”
In an age where distance is a priority and long bombers tend to rule, Campbell has earned his second victory of the season as the shortest hitter on Tour according to the official stats, with an average driving distance of 276.6.
“It just goes to show that there is so many different games out here and so many different ways to play the game. There is not one way to get it done, and that was something that I proved to myself earlier this season, and it’s paid off.”
Campbell first earned his PGA Tour card in 2015, but lost it in 2017. After spending being relegated to the Korn Ferry Tour and battling several bouts with injury and illness, Campbell made his way back onto the PGA Tour this season.
Now, he’s a two-time winner.
“I’ve worked my entire life to be in this position, and unfortunately we had a couple years there where it wasn’t looking so good… it really was all second stage Q-School about two, three years ago. I made like a quintuple bogey on a par-3 and I thought my career was over in that moment. That night, I just kind of had a self-talk with myself. Said, ‘You know what, whatever happens is okay. Trust yourself.’ The next round I went out there and shot 8-under and got myself right back in there.
“I guess I was like, maybe golf is not over for me. That moment was when everything changed.”
Grillo walks away on the other side of the emotional spectrum, experiencing the agony of defeat.
“I feel like I hit some great putts,” Grillo said. I gave my 100 percent. I played really well. I think I hit every fairway today, except for that first in the playoff. Unlucky, but it is what it is. It’s golf. Sometimes you’ve got to take what you get.”
Max Homa entered the final round just one shot off the lead. After making three straight birdies on holes 2-4, Homa stumbled with bogeys on Nos. 5, 9 and 15, keeping him out of striking distance down the stretch. He finished 16 under, in a six-way tie for fifth with Lucas Glover, Jacob Bridgeman, Matt Kuchar, Kurt Kitayama and Carson Young.
David Lipsky had a rollercoaster finish to his final round. He made eagle on the par-5 17th after an incredible second shot with a fairway wood, joining a tie with Campbell and Grillo at 18 under. But a wayward tee shot on the 18th forced him to lay up in front of the green. His 15-foot par putt, which he needed to make in order to join the playoff, caught the edge of the hole and lipped out.
Lipsky finished at 17 under, in a tie for third with Kevin Roy.
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