By winning the World Wide Technology Championship on Sunday, Ben Griffin claimed his third victory of the season and joined Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy as the only players with three or more victories on the PGA Tour this year. Not bad for a guy who took a hiatus from professional golf a few years ago.
The victory was also an early wedding present for Griffin, who will marry his fiancée, Dana Myeroff, in less than a month.
“Three wins and getting married in the same year, it’s hard to beat,” Griffin said.
At Tiger Woods’ El Cardonal at Diamante layout in Los Cabos, Mexico, Griffin shot 65-65-66-63 (-29), a new tournament scoring record, and finished two strokes clear of Chad Ramey and Sami Valimaki. His putter proved to be the difference, especially on Sunday when he drained 10 birdies.
“I pushed myself a little bit harder than the past few weeks when I was in contention to kind of keep the pedal down,” Griffin said. “Fortunately the putter heated up and I made a bunch of putts on the back nine.”
In the first round, Nick Dunlap and Valimaki tied the tournament record by shooting 11-under 61s. Dunlap had nine birdies and an eagle while Valimaki had 11 birdies. Neither player recorded a bogey. Griffin played a solid round of his own, shooting 65 with eight birdies and a bogey.
Dunlap and Valimaki mirrored each other’s scores again on Friday, shooting 67s to get to 16-under through 36 holes. But Matti Schmid took the lead, shooting 64-63 to get to 17-under, while Griffin added another 65 and was 14-under.
In the third round, Garrick Higgo shot the third 61 of the tournament to take a one-stroke lead going into Sunday. The South African set the tone early with an eagle on the first hole before five straight birdies on Nos. 3-7. He finished the day with no bogeys, an eagle and nine birdies.
At the start of the final round, six players were four shots or fewer behind Higgo. They included Griffin, who shot a 66 in the third round to get to 20-under, two strokes back.
As the leaders reached the final nine holes Sunday, Higgo, Carson Young and Griffin separated themselves from the pack. A fifth birdie in a row for Griffin on the 12th hole got him to 7-under for the day and 27-under for the tournament, one clear of Higgo and Young.
“My dad always calls me Mr. Par-3.”
Ben Griffin
Higgo’s drive on the 12th hole sailed wide right into a bush, prompting him to take an unplayable lie. While Young made his sixth birdie of the day to tie Griffin at 27-under, Higgo made double bogey and dropped three strokes behind the leaders.
But a wayward Young approach shot on 13 led to a bogey that dropped him to 26-under.
On the 16th hole, Griffin made a long putt for birdie that got him to 28-under, two clear of Young and Valimaki. Griffin birdied all four par-3s on Sunday and eight overall during the tournament.
“My dad always calls me Mr. Par-3,” Griffin said.
That birdie proved to be the difference, especially after Young missed a short putt for par on the 15th hole that dropped him three back. Griffin’s 10th birdie of the day on the 18th hole was the nail in the coffin.
Despite coming up short, both Ramey and Valimaki, who started the week outside the top 100 in the FedExCup Fall standings, moved comfortably inside the top 100 to secure their PGA Tour cards for next season.
This week, players outside the top 100 will have another chance to secure PGA Tour status in the penultimate event of FedExCup Fall: the Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Course.
Everett Munez