Ben Griffin Enters FedExCup Playoffs With A Tailwind

Forbes

12 hours ago

Second acts for a player in pro sports after a failure to launch, especially one with a full-on desk job as the intermission, are rarer than albatrosses.
Pitcher Jim Morris was pushing 35 and teaching high school chemistry when he took one last shot at the majors—and made it. Ben Griffin's break from golf wasn't quite as long as the hurler who inspired a Disney movie, but his career arc feels even more cinematic, with a grander payoff still unfolding.
Griffin, 29, is currently enjoying the wildest ride of his PGA Tour career, piling up eight top-10 finishes, including his first two victories on golf's top circuit this season. The breakout campaign catapulted the former University of North Carolina standout to No. 6 in the Comcast Business Tour Top 10, netting him a $3.4 million performance bonus heading into the 2025 FedExCup Playoffs, which tee off Thursday at TPC Southwind in Memphis.
'It kind of shows you the incredible rewards you can get from playing really good golf. All of us work super hard and we all believe we can do it,' Griffin said, reflecting on the magnitude of his banner year. 'It can take a while to happen, but fortunately I broke through and continued to gain confidence. It's a byproduct of working really hard, gaining experience, and competing and beating the best players in the world.'
Those rewards seem, extra hard won when you consider that just a few years ago, Griffin was grinding through golf's developmental circuits, struggling to gain traction. After giving it a go for several seasons without hitting pay dirt and racking up significant credit card debt to stay afloat along the way, he made the difficult decision to step away from the game entirely, feeling like his dream had slipped away.
He settled into a desk job as a residential loan officer at Corporate Investors Mortgage Group in Chapel Hill. There, he cultivated a dormant knack for data analysis. Long before AI tools went mainstream, Griffin was poring over spreadsheets and mining customer databases for refinancing opportunities with the same work ethic he had brought to attacking pin flags on golf's mini tours.
The following summer, an old pal Mike Swann invited him to a member-guest tournament at Highland Springs Country Club in Missouri. Despite having shelved his clubs and having abandoned his practice regiment, he managed to card a 63 on his own ball. Weeks later, the same course hosted a Korn Ferry event qualifier. Swann flew him back out, and another friend, Jesse Ahearn, also helped him cover costs. he conjured up a 65—though he'd go on to miss the cut, the fire had reignited and his journey back had begun. It was really a series of fortuitous events that catalyzed Griffin's second golf act, but absolutely crucial to his comeback was the backing and support of Doug Sieg, CEO of the Lord Abbett investment management firm.
Sieg was interested in sponsoring a player when he and his daughter got paired with Griffin for a round at Sea Island. That chance meeting sparked a friendship and partnership that still continues. Griffin went on to survive Q-School and racked up three runner-up finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2022. He's been on the rise and sporting Lord Abbett's logo, ever since.
'The real reason I was able to come back to golf was Doug Sieg and Lord Abbett spending their marketing budget on sponsoring me, whether I was going to be out there competing in professional tournaments or playing golf with their clients. I definitely wouldn't be where I am if it wasn't for him,' Griffin noted.
'There were so many people in my corner who provided me with a unique opportunity where I could afford to go back out and compete and attempt to play at the highest level and not every golfer has that chance. Not every golfer has the means to be able to go travel and try to make it on the PGA Tour,' he added, expressing gratitude to everyone who helped make his second run at his dream career possible.
Repaid Faith Yields Results
Signs of the leaderboard heights Griffin would eventually ascend flickered last season when he posted five top-10 finishes—including a runner-up at the Canadian Open. He went on to finish the regular season 61st in the FedEx Cup standings. In pro golf, the margin between good and great is player's iron blade thin. He was on the cusp, but few outside the clubhouse locker room had taken notice.
Stats wise he leapfrogged from 33rd in Strokes Gained: Total last season to 11th this year. He's currently sandwiched between Patrick Cantlay and Keegan Bradley in the key metric.
'I've always been a really good putter. I've always had a really good short game. It's funny because I don't think my short game stats are actually as good as they have been the past couple seasons. I'm kind of working on it—they didn't necessarily deteriorate a little but are maybe not quite as sharp. But, being 11th on tour in strokes gained means I'm doing a lot of really good things.
'Obviously, Scottie Scheffler is going to be leading that category, just cause of how dominant he's been. But I'd say the biggest factor that helped me in that category is off the tee, driving and gaining a little bit of distance, I've been working really hard off the course in the gym and all around off the golf course, to make sure I'm doing the right things that I need to do to be an elite golfer.
Equipment watchers have certainly noticed that the ball Griffin hits is also on a heater of a comeback trail after a long hiatus from the top circuit. It's been two decades since someone playing a Maxfli, a century-old brand currently owned by Dick's Sporting Goods and sold exclusively at its big-box stores and subsidiary Golf Galaxy, won a PGA Tour event.
'I did testing across all brands and I did not get a higher ball speed with any other ball than the Maxfli Tour X,' Griffin said. 'I gained two miles per hour with the 2023 model and I actually gained an extra mile per hour when I switched to the 2025. I just have a huge belief in their team.'
'The reason they are cheaper than other balls is because you can only purchase them at Dick's and Golf Galaxy so they don't have to sell to wholesalers or pro shops so they can keep their prices low because they're the ones that are warehousing and selling these golf balls. They have a tremendous edge on the market to sell an extremely good golf ball at a way more affordable price.'
Griffin Fandom
Griffin's relatability goes a long way and his gallery size is experiencing a growth spurt. When asked about it, he admits to have noticing the swell but shrugs off a question on whether the size upgrade come with new pressures.
'The biggest moment, where I noticed it, was playing in the final group with Scottie Scheffler at the Memorial when we were battling that out,' he recollected, adding that in a previous pairing at the Players Championship during his rookie season on tour the only folks watching who were pulling for him were either friends or social media followers.
'At the Memorial, it felt like there were almost more for me than Scottie a lot of the time. I was pretty engaged with the fans and I think at that moment I was like 'man I'm really becoming more popular out on tour' It's definitely been a lot of gravy to have those galleries on my side.'
Griffin enters the postseason in a stout shape, an automatic lock for the field at East Lake, thanks to his standing among the Comcast Business Tour Top 10.
'I feel like I have two bye weeks,' he said. 'Even though I'm going to be competing and trying to build points, I don't necessarily have to play my best the next two weeks and could still win the Tour Championship.'
That said, Griffin has no plans to let up on the gas and plans to exhibit prime pin hunting poise from the get go in Memphis this week.
'Me as a competitor, I don't want to lose. I want to go battle it out with Scottie at East Lake,' he said. 'If you told me right now Scottie and me are tied with two holes to go, battling it out for first at the Tour Championship—that's where I see myself. That's what I want.'
If that's the ending we get, maybe Apple or Netflix greenlights a biopic. Dave Franco could play Griffin with Margot Robbie cast as his fiancée Dana Myeroff.