Ben Griffin secured his second PGA Tour win of a breakout season at the Charles Schwab Challenge on Sunday, but the world No. 24 has bigger and better things in his sights
10:11 ET, 29 May 2025Updated 08:34 ET, 30 May 2025
Ben Griffin believes he is among the best players in the world and he is intent on proving it(Image: Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
Ben Griffin is enjoying a breakthrough season on the PGA Tour, and the two-time winner’s confidence speaks for itself. The newly crowned Charles Schwab Challenge champion believes he is a “top-five player,” and he says he is doing all he can to rein in Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
The North Carolina native picked up his second PGA Tour title of the season at Colonial Country Club on Sunday, holding off Matti Schmid to win by one shot in Fort Worth, Texas. It was Griffin’s first solo win on tour, following up his triumph alongside Andrew Novak in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans pairs event last month.
Those results have propelled Griffin to fifth in the FedEx Cup standings and a career-high 24th in the Official World Golf Ranking ahead of this week’s Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village. The 29-year-old has put himself at the forefront of Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley’s thoughts in the process.
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Griffin is riding the crest of a wave, reaching new levels of confidence and poise with each milestone. It is clear that he is far from content with his achievements so far; the former UNC Tar Heel wants more. But did he always believe he would emerge as a top contender on tour?
“That’s a good question. Yes, I always considered myself a very good golfer, but until you go out there and earn it and beat the best, it’s hard to consider yourself one,” he told Mirror Sports US. “There’s always belief, but it’s very validating for me now to see some of the hard work and some of the things I’ve been doing to try to make myself an elite golfer pay off.
“There are a lot of things behind the scenes that I’ve been doing to try to separate myself from being the 55th best player in the world, which is where I’ve been in the top 100 the last couple of years. There are little steps you have to make to get better and better, and I feel like I’m doing a lot of the right things from a rest and recovery standpoint, from a health standpoint, from a training standpoint.
“I’m doing the things that I need to do to be a Rory McIlroy, to be a Scottie Scheffler. 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.
Griffin’s win came not only with a trophy but also with the keys to a one-of-a-kind 1992 Schwab Defender(Image: Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
“I think I’m a top-five golfer right now. I have just got to continue to go down this stretch that I’m on and continue to win, continue to put myself in positions, and there’s no doubt in my mind that I can continue to get higher and higher in the world as I continue to improve.”
Physically, Griffin has been grinding in the gym. Feeling envious of the big-hitting stars on tour a year ago, he embarked on a mission to muscle up and add power to his game. Immediate results have followed. Griffin ranked 117th on tour in 2024 with an average ball speed of 172mph, but at Colonial, he ranked ninth in the field and averaged out at almost 181mph.
That growth has been down a newfound level of discipline in the gym, as well as hiring personal trainer Derek Smidt, whom he shares with Rickie Fowler, to work with him while he is on the road. Smidt was hired in February when Griffin was hampered by tendinitis in his quad, and he has since been tasked with supplementing the strength and conditioning work Griffin does back home in Sea Island, Georgia, with longtime trainer Randy Myers.
“I’ve gained a ton of distance,” Griffin said. “Going into the season, I was pretty much an average of low 170s ball speed. I’ve done a lot of work training in the last couple of months.
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“From a physical PT standpoint of getting stronger and taking the right supplements that elite golfers are taking, taking creatine. Some of that stuff, people talk about it every once in a while in the media, but the top golfers are doing it. They are working out every single day. They are getting stronger.
“I’m at the point where I’m now in the mid-180s ball speed off the tee. Yes, distance isn’t everything, but it’s huge right now in the game of golf. When I can take out bunkers that Rory McIlroy takes out, it makes golf so much easier. I’m sending driver on a lot of holes now that other guys are laying up on.
“It’s giving me a huge advantage. I’m going to continue to get stronger and continue to do the right things. I don’t want to overwork and get injured.”
PGA Tour golfers are among the most competitive people on the planet, so it is no surprise to hear they are looking over their shoulders in the gym trucks on tour to keep an eye on their rivals’ workout regimes.
Griffin celebrated Sunday’s win with fiancée Dana Myeroff(Image: Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
Griffin continued: “I find working out now a lot of fun, whereas before, I did it more as a way of maintenance and I needed to do a little bit of stuff, so I did it even though I didn’t enjoy it. Now, I’m really enjoying this whole thing behind the scenes with Derek. We’ve been training super hard.
“The last couple of months, me and him have decided to go all in and just work really hard. I can tell now when I’m in the PGA Tour trailers, I’m working harder than most other guys and lifting more weights. It’s really fun to do that.”
Before his breakthrough season, it was not uncommon to see Griffin’s name near the top of the leaderboard, but glory eluded him. He lost out in a five-way playoff at the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2023, and he also saw opportunities pass him by in Bermuda and Canada.
The only way to learn how to win is by doing it. Griffin now has that experience two times over, and he is hungry for more.
Griffin is up to 24th in the world rankings(Image: George Walker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“I think for me, it was only a matter of time. If you look back in my career, I think if I had the same mindset I did on Sunday, having already won on tour, being super freed up, being calm and composed in those pressure-packed moments. If I’d had that same feeling two years ago, I think I’d have five or six PGA Tour wins by now.
“I was going through it with my fiancée. Sanderson Farms, Canada was right there. I made a nice charge at the end, but Bobby MacIntyre was playing really good that week. It was an opportunity to win, but it wasn’t like I gave something away. I felt like Sanderson Farms and Bermuda, my rookie year, where I didn’t play how I wanted to down the stretch and it cost me.
“If I win those two, I’m at four, and then I had a couple of chances earlier this season where I was right there in the lead with a few holes to go. I feel like I’ve really evolved as a player, gotten really calm and composed, and I feel confident now going down the stretch. It’s nice to now be a two-time winner and just continue to build and keep this momentum going.”