– Ben Griffin is competing in Nicklaus’ Memorial, the 140th tournament of his career in events counting towards the world ranking. Until the 133rd, he was just another golfer. A very good one, let’s not kid ourselves, but one of those hundreds who travel each week under the radar. They go about their work, accumulating, making a living, resolving seasons on more or less unexpected days. In short, they live (well) from golf without their stories being of much interest to the world.
However, since his victory at the Zurich Classic, his magnificent performance at the PGA Championship, and especially his great triumph at Colonial last week, Ben has come out of his shell and is not discovering the worlds of Griffin. An interesting guy, with a voice and who thinks deeply. He doesn’t speak through others or take refuge in clichés. It’s worth listening to him.
For example, he states without any doubt that the victory in Zurich has changed his life. “Totally. I always said that when I won for the first time, it would free me a lot. My mindset hasn’t changed, but I feel much more confident in myself now that I know I can achieve it. I can rely on moments like those at Schwab or Zurich with Andrew, where I hit great shots at the end and managed to win. Once you do it a couple of times, it frees you to keep doing it. You know you can, so you keep pushing,” he explains.
One of the most important aspects of his evolution as a player is his physical change. He has notably improved in this area. He has gained no less than 10 miles of ball speed in 365 days.
And where are these changes he has experienced since winning Zurich most noticeable? Well, Griffin reveals something that at first glance may seem unglamorous, but perhaps is what most affects players day-to-day as they move from being under the radar to being among the best in the world. “My first year on the TOUR I was in the Korn Ferry category, so I had to play at the end of the shifts, battling with sunset and more trodden greens. In my second year, I played earlier, so I got up at 4 a.m. many times. Now I get a more reasonable hour. Is it an advantage? A bit, maybe. That’s why they do it, so the best have better conditions. It’s fair. The TOUR system rewards good play and there’s a big prize at the end of the rainbow if you keep pushing. Also, before, unless I got lucky on the weekend, I didn’t play with the Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy. Now I do. Before, I always got the same ones, like Charley Hoffman or Beau Hossler. We talked about it, it was curious how you played three times with the same person in 10 weeks,” he highlights. The worlds of Griffin. A golfer far from the commonplace who is very aware of how volatile golf can be: “Someone said I’m the hottest golfer on the PGA TOUR. I’m playing with a lot of confidence, hitting the ball pretty much where I want. Golf is cyclical, but it’s a lot of fun to be in a high moment like this, and I want to keep it going as long as possible.” Nothing lasts forever in this sport, unless your name is Scheffler…
– Speaking of Scottie, his ability to turn complex things into simple ones is overwhelming. Two very specific examples:
After the double bogey on the 10th, he reacted with two immediate birdies on the 11th and 12th. He was asked about the mentality he shows of leaving bad moments behind, not getting carried away by frustration, and was asked to reveal the secret. “Luckily I made the double bogey just before a par 5, which always helps (with laughter). I don’t know, what can I do on the 11th that affects what happened on the 10th? If I get there and make a bad swing because I’m frustrated, I’m going to get more frustrated, so better try to make a good swing. It’s that simple.” It’s that simple. Laughter is heard in the background…
– Sam Burns signed the round of the day with 65 strokes, a madness in this Memorial. His great motivation was to dedicate a good round to his caddie Travis, as it was his birthday. “I had set out to let him go to bed a little later today,” he explained. It wouldn’t hurt if good old Travis had birthdays more often.
– Jordan Spieth rallied to make the cut. He assures that he is playing well, although he can’t get all areas of the game to perform well at the same time. He was also honest. “I was very lucky with the weather. Those of us who went out later escaped the rain for a long time and that helped us a lot.” In view of his honesty, we should listen to him when he talks about the weather we’re going to have this Saturday in the third round. Spieth warns: “It’s going to be windy for the first time this week and we’re going to face a different, probably more dangerous, opponent.” The official PGA Tour forecast talks about gusts of 25 miles per hour… Not bad. We’re talking about almost 40 kilometres.
– The fountains of eternal youth that inspire Justin Rose. In this order: Langer (out of catalogue), Stricker, Djokovic, Scott, and Sergio. He didn’t mention Jiménez, but simply because he forgot.
