Ben Griffin, freshly off his win at the 2025 Charles Schwab Challenge, was once again in contention against names like Scottie Scheffler at the Memorial Tournament. Having secured a record up his sleeve, a confident Griffin said at Muirfield, “My game feels really good. Obviously, Scottie Scheffler’s the best player in the world, but No. 1 can be beat. I beat him last week.” Uh-huh. But despite his strong gameplay at the Memorial, Ben Griffin eventually became the latest victim of Scottie Scheffler’s fresh return to form. However, he gave stiff competition to Scheffler before mistakes cost him the Memorial Tournament.
Ben Griffin’s trouble began in the third round when he missed a three-foot par putt on the final hole, which left him with a score of 72 and one stroke behind Scheffler at 209. After making three consecutive birdies, Griffin held a five-stroke lead at 10 under and was six ahead of Scheffler. However, he bogeyed four straight holes starting from the ninth, then managed to stabilize his game somewhat, but ultimately lost another stroke and the $4M first prize (although he did end up with a pretty $2.2M for his troubles).
On the latest episode of The Smylie Show, while commenting on Scottie Scheffler‘s strong final round, which included 3 birdies and only 1 bogey, Griffin said, “I was pretty disappointed to not win, or at least keep it really close. But yeah, he’s just so consistent.” Scheffler also had an impressive previous round, making up seven shots on Griffin over the final nine holes to take a one-stroke lead after 54 holes, finishing with a bogey-free 68 and a total of eight-under 208. Interestingly, Scheffler is pretty much in awe of Griffin as well. At the Memorial Tournament, Scheffler said of Griffin, “he’s got a lot of talent.”
But that does not mean the competition is over for Ben Griffin. This season, he has a Strokes Gained:Putting mark of 0.158, ranking 63rd on Tour, with an average of 29.07 putts per round (135th) and a 22.41% rate of breaking par (70th). That’s where the challenge comes in: “I could have easily shot under par and kept up with him. I just, um, you know, ran out, ran out of steam, I guess. My previous seven rounds were so good between Charles Schwab and that, it’s hard to kind of keep it going. But I’ll be back. I’m excited for the US Open. Hopefully, I can get in the final group with him again and flip the script.”
Always fun to win but more fun to win in NOLA @Zurich_Classic https://t.co/Zq003Ypqpr
— Ben Griffin (@bengriffingolf) April 30, 2025
Ben Griffin will compete at Oakmont due to his current OWGR ranking of 15th. His recent performance at the Memorial Tournament and other stats support his success. Although the Zurich was a team event without World Ranking points, the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial confirmed his legitimacy, boosting him to 24th from a previous high of 48th. The win at Zurich marked his first victory in 90 Tour starts, following two seasons with eight top 10 finishes in 72 starts. While he hadn’t won before Zurich, he consistently performed well.
The result? A confident Ben Griffin. Ahead of the Memorial Tournament, Griffin had said, “Now that I’m looking at myself and my recent results and looking where I’m at in the rankings, I believe I’m a top-five player right now. Would I say Scottie and Rory are better golfers than me? Yes, but I’m making strides.” And he is pretty serious about it, if his challenge for Rory McIlroy is anything to go by.
Ben Griffin would like to beat Rory McIlroy in the Ryder Cup
“I don’t want to be on a Ryder Cup team just to be on a Ryder Cup team. I want to be on the Ryder Cup team because I want to be a stone-cold killer who’s trying to beat the European team and win point,” said Ben Griffin earlier this month in an exclusive. Then, he added, “I don’t want to be on that team unless I believe that I’m going to win points and beat their best player, beat Roy McIlroy if I’m in a singles match with him.” Ben Griffin’s confidence stems from two factors: Keegan Bradley‘s mention of his name when discussing Bradley’s performance evaluation at the Memorial Tournament and Griffin’s strong position.
At the Memorial Tournament, Bradley mentioned Griffin during self-evaluation: “Great. I don’t know, Ben Griffin’s playing really well, but I feel like I got myself back in the tournament. I can’t control what he does. But proud of the way I played today.” This random mention was important, as it is known that Keegan Bradley is currently on a hunt to look for players for his U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Of course, the numbers are working in Griffin’s favor as well. Griffin’s performance at the Memorial has heightened speculation about his Ryder Cup chances. Currently ranked 7th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings with 7,343.86 points, he holds a strong position for a captain’s pick, as the top six players earn automatic spots, leaving six discretionary selections for Bradley.
The post ‘I’ll Be Back’: Scottie Scheffler Sent Warning After He Turned PGA Tour Pro’s $4 Million Dreams to Dust appeared first on EssentiallySports.