As the 54-hole leader at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Ben Griffin and partner Andrew Novak are each 18 holes away from earning their first PGA Tour victory at the two-man team event.
Novak lost in a playoff last week at the RBC Heritage, while Griffin has been trending as well, sitting 51st in the Official World Golf Ranking at the cutoff where the top 50 earn a Masters berth to narrowly miss the field.
Griffin, 28, is best known for stepping away from his career as a professional golfer to become a mortgage loan officer in his native North Carolina.
“I’d lost my motivation and love for golf. The stress of playing with $15,000 of credit-card debt was agony, so I quit,” he told Golf Digest. But he resurrected his career in 2021 and has banked more than $8 million in 89 Tour starts.
“It provided me with a reset button,” Griffin tells Golfweek. “Doing something completely different is good for getting a fresh headspace.”
Here are five more things to know about Griffin as he shoots for his maiden Tour title on Sunday.
Traveled the junior golf circuit solo
Griffin grew up playing golf with his dad and grandpa. By the time he was 16, he was driving to tournaments solo and staying in hotels because both my parents were working. “I’d tell the front desk, ‘Look, my dad is coming to check us in, don’t worry. He’s on a call and running behind. I just need a room key.’ It worked every time.”
Bleeds Tarheel Blue
Both his parents went to the University of North Carolina and he grew up in Chapel Hill, practicing at the University of North Carolina Finley Golf Course. Once he started going to college there, his teammates complained that qualifying wasn’t fair. “I knew every break on those greens,” he said. “It was a very easy transition for me.”
Get rid of the yardage book
Griffin suggests an unique solution for slow play – allow rangefinders (which the Tour is currently testing) but ban the yardage book.
“I think it would actually speed up play. Play the course how it looks. I know it’s old school but do that and make it new school with a rangefinder,” he said.
Maxfli Man
A year ago, Griffin was testing golf balls. His caddie suggested he try Maxfli, the once popular brand in the 1970s and ‘80s, which has become a Dick’s Sporting Goods house brand. He’d never used it before. “I was shocked by the ball speed numbers,” he said. Griffin said he gained 2 miles per hour off the tee without sacrificing anything from a spin standpoint. He began using it in Tour events before he negotiated a deal to represent the brand.
He wears his sunglasses on the course
Like Corey Hart in the ’80s classic song, Griffin doesn’t wear his sunglasses at night but he’s been wearing sunglasses on the course since the RBC Canadian Open last June, where he finished second, due to seeing floaters. Since that first week with a designer knockoff brand he happened to have in his bag, he’s relied on U Swing sunglasses. “It hasn’t affected my vision – I still see floaters – but they darken things and make the floaters less defined,” he said. “I think they also help me with reading greens and seeing slopes better.”
He appreciates a good lawn
Griffin moved last month from St. Simons Island, Ga., to Jupiter, Fla., and one of the benefits will be having a lawn in his backyard, where as a kid he liked to do some chipping. Griffin has a sponsorship deal with TruGreen, an official PGA Tour partner, and participated in the brand’s marketing campaign alongside Patton Kizzire and Jason Day.
“It was a very Hollywood experience,” said Griffin, who is looking forward to getting the full TruGreen experience at his new pad. “I trust myself on a course, I’ve got to trust them with my lawn.”
Lifestyle change
Griffin stopped drinking alcohol during the season and adopted a vegan diet at the suggestion of his girlfriend.
“Some people treat food like entertainment, but food is fuel. I eat for energy. Research says veganism helps with inflammation. I’ve never felt better,” he told Golf Digest. “I needed to stop drinking during the season. I didn’t have a drinking problem, but I was drinking like I was still in college. When you drink consistently, you think you feel good, but you don’t. Now I feel incredible.”
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