What a year it has been for Ben Griffin! After receiving his PGA Tour card in 2023, he nearly grabbed a title in his rookie season and another in 2024 as well. However, this year, he won his first PGA Tour title by teaming up with Andrew Novak for the Zurich Classic. Griffin followed that up with another outstanding victory over Scottie Scheffler in the Charles Schwab Challenge. Now, after years of near misses, the 29-year-old isn’t just a Tour winner—he’s a proven contender who has stared down the world’s best and come out on top.
In an episode of All Access by the PGA Tour, Ben Griffin reflected on everything that has happened since 2023. He said, “Last two years, I showed up to this event (FedEx St. Jude Championship), my first year, I barely showed up. I was no. 70 (he finished 63rd on the FedEx Cup leaderboard) on the points list. So I was the last man on the field. There was just way more pressure.”
Finishing low on the leaderboard means that Griffin would have played the first playoff, but he still had to qualify for the BMW Championship and the TOUR Championship. That put a lot more pressure on him. As he expressed, “I knew every shot was incredibly important for me to try to get to the next playoff event and eventually get to East Lake.” Unfortunately, Ben couldn’t get past the St. Jude Championship and into the second playoffs in 2023 and 2024. He failed to make it to the top 50 rankings and didn’t qualify for the tournament that followed.
But his excellent finish in the 2025 FedEx Cup season means that he won’t need to put in the same amount of effort this season. As Griffin confirmed, “I’m already locked up for the TOUR Championship. I don’t really have as much pressure this year. I have nothing to lose in a way until I get to the TOUR Championship. So, it’s been an incredible year. I feel like I’ve learned a lot from my first couple of seasons. Now, this year, I feel like I’m teeing it up every week. Truly believe that I’m one of the best players and can beat all the top players in the world.”
Not only has he stepped it up a notch and made it to the TOUR Championship, but he has raised his game to a level where he believes that he can beat anyone. At first, there were doubts whether Griffin could win a PGA Tour title on his own after his first title came teaming up with Andrew Novak. However, beating the world #1 really seems to have given a huge confidence boost to Griffin. He finished 6th in the FedEx Cup standings. That’s a considerably better finish than the 60th-place runs he had in his first couple of seasons here.
Additionally, he is also a strong contender for the Ryder Cup as part of Team USA. He is currently 9th in the Ryder Cup Standings. “Ben Griffin’s playing really well,” is what Captain America, a.k.a Keegan Bradley, had to say after Griffin’s performance in The Memorial Tournament.
Ben Griffin at Quail Hollow. Image Credits: @bengriffingolf/Instagram
As incredible as his journey has been, Ben Griffin has turned into an inspiration for many young golfers who are just starting out on the PGA Tour. And he also had a bit of wisdom to share with one of them. Let’s see what he said.
After beating Scottie Scheffler, Ben Griffin shares his secret to success with a fellow PGA Tour pro
Having achieved what he has now, he also had a bit of wisdom to share with one of his peers, Chris Gotterup. He said, “I saw a podcast that Chris Gotterup did with Smiley (Kaufman) the other day, and he was like, If you interviewed me three weeks ago, our conversations would be so different. Things change so fast. You don’t know where golf’s going to take you, and you just got to kind of let things happen, work hard, believe in yourself, and see where it takes you.”
Not many golfers can say that they have beaten Scottie Scheffler. Then again, in Gotterup’s case, not many can say that they have triumphed over Rory McIlroy as well. Both players have had incredible seasons so far. While their career trajectory may be vastly different, they still have similar goals in mind. One of them would be that they would want to convince Keegan Bradley to pick them for a spot on the Team U.S. squad. There is a lot of debate revolving around how many rookies a Ryder Cup team can afford to have. In such a case, can fans expect to see both Ben Griffin and Chris Gotterup in the mix at Bethpage Black in September 2025?
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