10 things to know about Ben Griffin, including his stint as a mortgage loan officer

USA Today

2 days ago

10 things to know about Ben Griffin, including his stint as a mortgage loan officer
Ben Griffin is on a serious heater.
Unless you're a golf fan that has been living under a rock for the last month, you probably know that he's won twice – Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Andrew Novak and the Charles Schwab Challenge – and finished T-8 at the PGA Championship, his best result In a major. He enters the final round of the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio, one stroke back of Scottie Scheffler and suddenly he is looking like a serious contender for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. That's one of the many good reasons why it's about time you get to know Griffin.
Mortgage-loan officer stint
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 $11 million in 94 Tour starts.
'It provided me with a reset button,' Griffin tellsGolfweek. 'Doing something completely different is good for getting a fresh headspace.'
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 of his 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.
The story behind his Aviator-style sunglasses
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 2024 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.' For the full story on why he Venmo-ed $20 to pro CT Pan for the pair he wears, click here.
The genesis of his lethal short game
After winning the Charles Schwab Challenge in May thanks to an assortment of tidy up and downs, Griffin was asked how he developed such a reliable short game. His eyes watered and his voice cracked as he explained how his parents endured some tough times financially during the 2008 recession. Griffin's family had to downsize their home and give up the country club membership. There wasn't much money to spend on golf, let alone range balls. But his parents made sure there was a public golf course for him to use. "I would chip and putt all day," he said. "I would hit maybe a half bucket of balls for $5 or whatever it was, and my parents, they always considered themselves middle to upper class, but I knew there for a little bit when we lost our house, when we lost everything. I know they sacrificed a lot for me."
The silver lining for Griffin? He became a short-game magician.
He appreciates a good lawn
Griffin moved last month from St. Simons Island, Ga., to Jupiter, Florida, 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.'
Distance gain is for real
Griffin not only dropped the booze but started taking creatine. 'You still got to work really hard. I'm doing it more from the standpoint of muscle recovery, gaining muscle mass. You still have to work out if you're going to gain strength. It's not like the supplement is going to fix everything,' he said. 'But I would say on Tour probably 60 or 70 percent of guys are taking that substance."
It's working. He's averaging 176 mph ball speed this year, up from 172 in 2024, and has gained about 17 yards off the tee.
"The last three, four months, I really kind of locked in on that, trying to gain speed -- trying to still maintain flexibility and mobility. I mean, it's important. I'm on the road every week, I'm flying, I'm driving cars, none of it is good for my body.
"My kind of goal has been to swing harder, get, like, a mile-per-hour faster or so every week or two. And I've just been on this nice trajectory right now. I'm trying not to push it too much, but definitely conscious of trying to hit it a little bit further. And I think I swing better when I hit it harder. It's weird, I feel like when I'm swinging hard I'm actually like hitting it kind of straighter. It's funky. Golf's a weird sport, but here I am. I guess I'm an athlete now," he said.
Griffin pointed out that it was his hard work in the gym and not creatine, which has keyed his new-found length off the tee.
'I'm taking a bunch of different things. I passed my last drug test. I'm not doing anything illegal here from two weeks ago. I'm just trying to do the right things to take care of my body," he said. "I'm working out harder than I ever have, so I got to make sure I'm consuming a lot of protein. And, yeah, I feel like I'm doing the right things, just got to keep plugging along, and I'll keep taking creatine.'