Walking down Bourbon Street after midnight with a six-inch rhodium-plated belt around his waist was a golfer this city hardly knew. But Ben Griffin knew who he was and how he felt — invincible. He walked into some random dive bar in New Orleans’ French Quarter to loud cheers of “Hey, nice belt!” But they weren’t aware of the significance, nor did they see anything strange about the fashion choice, because around these parts, standing out is fitting in.
The belt read “Zurich Classic Team Champions” along the buckle, with music notes, fleurs-de-lis, gators and Mardi Gras masks decorating the edges. Some six hours earlier, Griffin and his good buddy Andrew Novak won the PGA Tour’s lone team event for their first career wins on tour.
That meant it was time for a Sunday night celebration, and fortunately, they were in a place where nothing shuts down early. A tournament official got the duo a table at Galatoire’s, a fine-dining institution on the edge of Bourbon. They ate all night, drinking champagne and gulping down a few old-fashioneds. They roamed the Quarter and popped into bars before ending their evening at Caesars Palace, where Griffin proudly won $45 playing craps.
“What didn’t we do?” he said last week, as he prepared for his first Tour Championship. “The night was long.”
In that moment, Ben Griffin was just another first-time PGA Tour winner, feeling like he broke through by claiming the title at a lower-tier event. There was more media attention on his partner, Novak.
The golf world wasn’t aware that this was the beginning of being introduced to a new main character: an aviator-wearing, cocksure-strutting, viral quote-producing personality who has gone from being an afterthought to playing like one of the 10 best golfers in the world. Griffin is a showman, the type of guy who walks off the course telling tales of blacking out from a creatine “overdose.” Who says “bring it on” to evil weather and plays up to crowds. The kind of person who says he’s “too blessed to be stressed” as he awaits Wednesday’s big announcement.
Griffin appears to be a golfer put on Earth to lean into the pandemonium of a Long Island Ryder Cup next month at Bethpage Black, heeding the raucous crowds and staring straight into the pressure-filled moments behind his tinted USwing Mojing shades.
Many have spent the better part of the summer assuming he was a lock for the American team, with two wins, 10 top-10 finishes this season and ninth in the Ryder Cup points standings. But the closer we get to Wednesday’s team announcement, the more speculation rises about Griffin’s status. Especially after U.S. captain Keegan Bradley told Golf Channel on Sunday, “There’s probably going to be a few guys that think they are going to be on the team that aren’t going to be.”
The Zurich Classic was a breakthrough moment for Ben Griffin, left, and Andrew Novak. It also came with belts. (Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
And Griffin has never been shy about believing in himself. Like when he walked off the course tied for fourth place halfway through the U.S. Open. He did it playing in a group with Bradley, to which the ever-joking Griffin quipped, “Yeah, Keegan said whoever was low man after 36 holes was getting on the Ryder Cup, so I guess I’m getting — I’m just kidding.”
Or when the PGA Tour posted a video following Griffin during the FedEx St. Jude Championship, and after bumping fists with Bradley, he playfully turned back and whispered, “Pick me!”
Understanding Griffin’s career arc is about recognizing this undeniable sense of self-belief. It’s how a golfer who stepped away from golf in 2021 to work as a mortgage loan officer can earn a PGA Tour card a year later and be among the game’s best by 2025. Even when he was playing the obscure starting times along the fringes of a tee sheet, the same chirpy swagger followed. That is what a captain’s pick of Griffin is relying on.
“It’s just how Ben is,” Novak said.
Novak still can’t get over a moment three years ago. Griffin was playing a casual round at Sea Island in Georgia, and he was on the heater of all heaters — 11 under with a hole to go. He needed an eagle to shoot 59. Standing in the fairway about 160 yards to the final pin, he had the presence of mind to tell his buddy to start filming. “I’m gonna make this,” he said.
And Griffin made it. He holed out from 160, sprinting around the fairway with his eyes bulging before the viral video took the internet.
“Who does that?” Novak said. “I don’t know. He’s crazy.”
Fun to watch!! Had to hole it on the last for 59! @ChillinChico @PGATOUR @PGATOURKevin @GolfChannel @GolfCentral @KornFerryTour @espn @SportsCenter @bengriffingolf https://t.co/3WS1JfuR6q pic.twitter.com/EdmbA8xh9s
— Harrison Shih (@hshihgolf) July 9, 2022
OK, so somebody who believes in themself this much, did he know this season was coming?
“Not necessarily everything that has happened, but I knew I would be better,” Griffin said in Atlanta. He saw the progress happening, in three years rising from the Korn Ferry Tour to keeping his PGA Tour card to No. 61 in points last season. He saw the benefits of experience. Realistically, he saw himself joining the top 50 in points this season and getting himself into all the signature events.
But then he finished in the top 10 three times by March 2. He won the Zurich in April with Novak, at the time one of the hottest players on tour. That seemed to unlock an even greater belief. Eighth place at the PGA Championship. A solo win at the Charles Schwab Invitational. Second place at the Memorial, 10th at the U.S. Open and never stopping after that — 10 top-20 finishes in his final 12 starts. This was no longer a hot streak. Griffin had risen to become the fourth-highest rated American by strokes gained data.
Griffin’s short game has always been respected — he says he developed it when his family was crushed by the 2008 recession and he couldn’t spend much on range balls. But he began to chase swing speed. He said his goal is to add a mile per hour each week, slowly improving to 71st in driving distance on the PGA Tour. He now gains strokes off the tee, after three years that were well below the tour average.
Griffin leans into all these stories about himself. He admits he’s not exactly a grinder, calling himself “more of a gamer.” He doesn’t turn down media requests. Even if he really is the version of himself he portrays, he still knows how to play it up for the camera. Still, he does slightly pump the brakes on the description.
“Off the golf course, I’m not necessarily blaring, like, alpha male,” he jokes with a laugh, “more just a normal person. But on a golf course, you have to be confident. You have to have a little selfishness in a way, have a ton of self-belief to make it to the Tour Championship.”
Now, Bradley will have an unenviable decision to make. He’ll have to choose between superstar major winners and inexperienced golfers in far better form. He’ll need to battle course fit versus who’s really playing well. Oh, and he’ll need to decide if he wants to pick himself as a playing captain, a controversial decision no matter which way he leans.
But if Griffin is left off, it will likely signify that it was never quite about the golf, because on paper there is no strong argument against him.
“It’s been an interesting summer. I’ve been doing (Netflix documentary) “Full Swing,” I’ve been doing a lot of media, and I feel like every day I get the questions about the Ryder Cup. It’s definitely been an added pressure for me, and it’s something that’s been more on my mind than it probably should be,” Griffin said.
For one more day, he’ll have to wait and hope he made his case, something he’s never been shy about doing.
“It’s tough being a bubble guy and being outside that top six, but I played really solid this year,” Griffin said. “Hopefully, Keegan sees that and wants me to represent the United States.”
(Top photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
