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Newsweek
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Newsweek
The Memorial: $20 Million Payout to PGA Tour Stars Revealed
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Scottie Scheffler is at it again as he defended his title at The Memorial Tournament to earn his 16th PGA Tour win. The Memorial was the Tour's seventh Signature Event, so the elevated purse was $20 million. Scheffler won $4 million and 700 FedEx Cup points, to give him his third win of the season after claiming the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow and CJ Cup Byron Nelson. He signed for a 2-under 70 on Sunday to win by four shots over the Charles Schwab Challenge winner, Ben Griffin. The former Texas Longhorn stayed steady throughout the week as he made just one bogey all weekend and went 70-70-68-70 to show why he is the No.1 player in the world. Scheffler became the first player since Tiger Woods to win this tournament in back-to-back seasons. DUBLIN, OHIO - JUNE 01: Scottie Scheffler of the United States celebrates with son Bennett after winning the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday 2025 at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 01, 2025 in Dublin,... DUBLIN, OHIO - JUNE 01: Scottie Scheffler of the United States celebrates with son Bennett after winning the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday 2025 at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 01, 2025 in Dublin, Ohio. More Photo byGriffin performed well at Murifield Village, but couldn't close it out against Scheffler. However, his performance was enough to get him solo second, and he will take home $2.2 million. Griffin won $1,710,000 last week in Texas and earned $3,910,000 in the last two weeks on Tour. Sepp Straka finished solo third after he shot a 2-under 70 to get to 5-under on the tournament and take home $1.4 million. Nick Taylor was fourth at 4-under overall and will leave Ohio with $1 million. Those four are the ones who made seven figures this weekend at The Memorial. How much money did the rest of the field make this week? Here is a full breakdown of the Memorial Tournament's $20 million purse. The Memorial Tournament 2025 Payout: 1. Scottie Scheffler (-10): $4,000,000 2. Ben Griffin (-6): $2,200,000 3. Sepp Straka (-5): $1,400,000 4. Nick Taylor (-4): $1,000,000 T5 Russell Henley, Maverick McNealy (-2): $800,000 T7. Brandt Snedeker, Tom Hoge, Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley, Jordan Spieth (-1): $603,200 T12. Taylor Pendrith, Harris English, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, (E): $415,000 T16. Ludvig Åberg, Akshay Bhatia, Tommy Fleetwood, Sugnjae Im (+1): $319,000 T20. Collin Morikawa, Robert MacIntyre, Ryan Fox (+2): $250,666 T23. Ryan Gerard, Shane Lowry (+3): $208,000 T25. Max Greyserman, Viktor Hovland, Cameron Young, Matt Kuchar, Corey Conners, Xander Schauffele (+4): $159,000 T31. Matt Fitzpatrick, Sam Stevens, Si Woo Kim, Tony Finau, Adam Scott, Justin Thomas, Jacob Bridgeman (+5): $114,857 38. Hideki Matsuyama (+6): $94,000 T39. Alex Noren, Thomas Detry, Mackenzie Hughes, Stephan Jaeger, Bud Cauley, (+7): $82,000 T44. Justin Rose, Michael Kim, Nick Dunlap, Eric Cole, Jhonattan Vegas (+8): $62,400 T49. Davis Thompson, Min Woo Lee (+10): $53,000 T51. Harry Higgs, Max Homa, Andrew Novak, Adam Hadwin (+11): $49,500 55. Denny McCarthy (+12): $47,000 56. Wyndham Clark (+13): $46,000 57. Austin Eckroat (+17): $45,000 Next week, the PGA Tour will head north for the RBC Canadian Open. Some of the biggest names on the Tour will be there, including No. 2 in the world, Rory McIlroy. However, Scheffler will not play the week ahead of the U.S. Open. More Golf: Tiger Woods' TGL League Shows Promise for Golf Future as Season 1 Comes To A Close
USA Today
17 hours ago
- Business
- USA Today
10 things to know about Ben Griffin, including his stint as a mortgage loan officer
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.'
USA Today
19 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Why Ben Griffin Venmoed $20 to CT Pan for sunglasses — and how they've helped his game
AI-assisted summary Golfer Ben Griffin wears sunglasses due to floaters in his vision, a result of retinal holes requiring laser surgery. He initially wore knockoffs, but now sports aviator-style sunglasses from fellow pro C.T. Pan. The sunglasses help reduce the visibility of floaters, especially in bright conditions on the golf course. Griffin also finds the sunglasses improve his green reading and ability to see slopes and contours. The short answer is Ben Griffin has lousy vision. But here's the full story of why Griffin wears sunglasses when he plays golf. It all began a year ago at the RBC Canadian Open last June, where he finished second, due to seeing floaters. 'I'd never played a tournament round with them but I decided on the fourth hole (of the first round), screw it,' he recalled. 'Ever since then, I've been wearing the shades.' Originally, he wore a pair of designer knockoffs that he found in his house that he had purchased a year earlier with no significance to golf. But before long he admired a model of aviator-style glasses worn by and endorsed by fellow Tour pro C.T. Pan and they've become Griffin's super power — he's won twice this season sporting them. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle 'I Venmo-ed him $20 and he shipped me a pair,' Griffin recalled. 'I've been wearing them ever since.' He added: 'Sunglasses are solely just to make it darker and, honestly, it helps with the floaters because the floaters are dark, and so when it's really bright they're way more defined, especially on a golf course where there's not much shade. So, when I have the sunglasses on I don't see 'em quite as much. That's really the only benefit.' Ben Griffin started seeing floaters About a year ago, he started seeing floaters and went to an eye doctor, who determined his retina was starting to suffer from a detached retina. He had to undergo laser surgery. 'I had eight retinal holes in both eyes, so I was at risk of losing vision, maybe within five or six months, had I not gotten the treatment,' he said. 'So I still see the floaters, I had to get the surgery just to maintain my level.' Griffin said he's surprised more golfers don't wear sunglasses when they play, noting the benefit he experiences with green reading and seeing slopes better. 'They say the science behind 'em kind of helps with green reading and I think it's 100 percent true,' he said of his USwing Mojing sunglasses, an Asian maker of sunglasses worn by multiple golfers in professional golf. 'I love the ability to see the contrast a little bit better – when it's really bright, it's kind of hard to see maybe grain changes from time to time – so, seeing contours is definitely a little bit easier I think with the sunglasses. And now, I mean, I guess I'm getting to the point where I have more and more fans and people like it, so I'm not going to stop wearing 'em, that's for sure.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Scheffler surges into Memorial lead on moving day
Scottie Scheffler has produced his best on a tough day at Muirfield Village, opening with 13 straight pars and then pouring it on at the end for a four-under 68 that gave him a one-shot lead over Ben Griffin after three rounds at the Memorial. Scheffler birdied four of his last five holes and took the lead when Griffin missed a three-foot par putt on the 18th. At stake for Scheffler is a chance to win for the third time in his last four tournaments and join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners at the Memorial. "I don't know what the scoring average was today, but I was definitely proud of the way I finished and it was really challenging," Scheffler said. "Through 13 holes, I felt like I was playing really good and I was only even par. Just a hard course." Here comes Scottie ...The 15-time TOUR winner grabs the co-lead after this birdie on the last @MemorialGolf. — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 31, 2025 Scheffler, the only player to break par all three rounds, is at eight-under 208. Griffin, who won last week at Colonial, made five birdies and five bogeys over his last 13 holes. Scheffler was six shots behind his fellow American at one point and then it all changed so quickly. Griffin, who became the only player this week to reach 10-under par when he ran off three straight birdies, gave it all back with four straight bogeys. Scheffler was lurking, as always. The world No.1 has an uncanny knack of hanging around and winding up with the low score by the end of the day. This was no exception. "I did see that Ben got to 10 under, but it's not going to change my play in the middle of a Saturday," Scheffler, who has won the last eight times when holding the 54-hole lead, added. "This golf course is really challenging and no lead's safe around this place. I knew if I kept going and played a decent round, I would be in somewhat of a position to chase him down tomorrow." Nick Taylor (74) wound up three shots behind and for that he was thankful at the end. The Canadian went into the water and made double bogey on the diabolical par-3 12th, followed that with a bogey and was sliding out of contention. And then he holed out from fairway for eagle at the 14th, birdied the next hole and played that four-stretch in even par. View this post on Instagram A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour) The best round belonged to Austrian Sepp Straka, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year. He posted a 66 as the leaders were just getting started and is tied-fourth at three under with Jordan Spieth (72) and Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley (68). Adam Scott (73) is five over and the leading Australian while compatriot Min Woo Lee (76) is two shots further back.
NBC Sports
a day ago
- Climate
- NBC Sports
To lift, clean and place, or not? That is the question at Jack's Place
DUBLIN, Ohio – For the second time in three weeks, Mother Nature and the dynamics of a golf ball's flight have coalesced to create unrest among the game's best and brightest. Mud balls are an issue this week at the Memorial, just as they were earlier this month at the PGA Championship, when world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler railed against a rules decision that allowed chance, not skill, to dictate the outcome. Scheffler's take, which is born from decades of perfecting his craft, was ultimately vindicated when he won his third major championship that Sunday at Quail Hollow Club, which was drenched by rain much like Muirfield Village has been this week. But then Jack's Place is historically one of the PGA Tour's messy and muddiest, which likely makes the decision not to play preferred lies for golf balls in closely mown areas even more curious. Heavy rains throughout the week have left Muirfield Village soaked but perfectly playable if not for the ever-present mud ball. 'A perfect example is the second hole today, Adam [Scott] has hit a perfect tee shot in the left side of the fairway and the whole left side of his ball is caked in mud,' Brandt Snedeker explained. 'He's done everything he should do, he's driven it down the left side of the fairway and has a 9-iron in his hand and has no chance of hitting this green. He's got to play it to the left bunker and pray the mud does what it's supposed to do and, of course, it didn't. That is not equitable and it's one of a thousand times it happened this week.' Snedeker's concern beyond the obvious impact on the competitive integrity of the event was the process the Tour uses to determine when to allow players to lift, clean and place. It's a process that is more art than science. A cold, soaking rain on Day 2 at the Memorial set the stage for cool, clear skies and winds that gusted to 26 mph on Saturday – the perfect recipe for mud balls. 'Two holes that I hit the fairway I did not [have a mud ball], one of them the ball was imbedded and I got to clean it [under the Rules of Golf],' said Maverick McNealy, who hit 11 of 14 fairways on Day 3 on his way to a 69. 'I'm not sure why [officials didn't play preferred lies]. I was just about to ask the officials about it. I don't know why you wouldn't play lift, clean and place today. 'As a consensus, Tour players like to be rewarded for good shots and penalized for bad ones. That's why we don't like mud balls.' At the PGA Championship, it was the PGA of America's venerated setup man Kerry Haigh whose decision to not allow preferred lies was questioned but also not entirely unexpected. As a rule, Haigh is very much old school and rarely allows for preferred lies in the association's championships. This week is different. The PGA Tour's philosophy for playing the ball up is based on the idea of 'extreme mud,' which means the incidents of mud balls must be more than simply isolated and instead widespread throughout the golf course. Depending on who you ask, the line Saturday at Muirfield Village seemed to waiver between the two extremes. 'I mean, we got a lot of mud balls,' said Keegan Bradley, whose 68 moved him into the top 10. 'Pretty much if you hit the fairway, you had some sort of mud ball. Some were worse than others. But, yeah, a good amount.' Anecdotally, Bradley, Snedeker and McNealy would suggest the presence of 'extreme mud balls,' but to be fair the Tour's rules committee debated whether to play the ball 'up' for over an hour both Friday and Saturday morning. It's also worth pointing out that Jack Nicklaus, the legendary host of the Memorial, was not involved in the decision to forgo preferred lies. Players do have a remedy for what some see as a capricious preferred lie policy. As evidenced by this week's player-driven changes to the format at the Tour Championship, player empowerment has fully arrived in professional golf and the membership's voice has never been louder or more important. If the Player Advisory Council and policy board want change it is only a few meetings and a final vote away, but there will be those who caution to be careful what you ask for. A change to the preferred lie policy may be what players want, but it might not be what's best for the game.
