By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Ben Griffin is in the Ryder Cup, a remarkable rise that is certain to be an inspiration to thousands of American golfers who are good enough to at least dream.
Griffin laughed when asked how many careers he might have ruined in the process.
“You mean all the loan officers who think they can make it to the PGA Tour?” he said.
That’s where the 29-year-old Griffin was four years ago, working a 9-5 job on a slow day in the real estate business about the time Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas were making a push to qualifying for the last Ryder Cup held on U.S. soil.
There he was on stage at Bethpage Black for the opening ceremony, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year, two other tournaments where he was runner-up to Scottie Scheffler, and currently No. 11 in the world golf ranking.
“It’s really crazy,” Griffin said. “I haven’t had a lot of time to think about everything I’ve achieved, which is probably not a bad thing. I’ve just kept my head down and I’ve been playing golf. It’s been an incredible journey. Every guy out here has a different journey, whether it’s making the Ryder Cup or becoming a major champion. Mine is unique.”
His journey includes his parents losing their home and private country club membership during the real estate crash in 2008 when he was 12. So he played at Finley Golf Course, where the University of North Carolina played. That turned out to be an advantage when Griffin went on to play for the Tar Heels.
He had a plan back then. Finish school, go to the developmental tour, get his PGA Tour card.
It all sounded so simple until the road became a grind, the credit card balance soared and the discipline was lacking — he said he didn’t have a drinking problem, but he drank like he was still in college. And that was a problem.
“It’s important to chase your dreams,” Griffin said. “It’s important to be a realist with your dreams. But also, it’s important to do the right things to achieve your dreams. I wasn’t doing the wrong things. … But some off-course stuff, you come out of college and you still want to be a college kid.”
This was a talent with reason to dream. He competed against Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns in the Wyndham Cup while on the American Junior Golf Association. He won three times at North Carolina and set school records for lowest 54-hole score and season scoring average.
Scheffler said the idea Griffin was a mortgage loan officer four summers ago and now he is a Ryder Cup teammate is “kind of a weird thing to think about.”
“I grew up with Ben. He always had the talent to make it out here,” Scheffler said. “He’s been a tremendous putter for as long as I’ve known him, and his ball-striking has really come around, and he’s also picked up some speed. He’s never lacked confidence.”
But he suffered burnout after one failed season on the Korn Ferry Tour, endless Monday qualifiers, mini-tours and limited opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. He reached a point of burnout in 2021 and became a licensed mortgage loan officer at CIMG Residential Mortgage in his hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
And then a phone call that summer changed everything.
A friend invited him to a member-guest at Highland Springs in Springfield, Missouri. Griffin picked up a club for the first time in what felt like forever and shot 63. The friend flew him back out for a Korn Ferry Tour qualifier a few weeks later at the same course. He shot 65 to get in, though he missed the 36-hole cut.
Golf was back in his blood, and he left for Q-school in the fall of 2021 about the time the Americans were heading to Whistling Straits. This time, he had financial backing from a chance meeting with Doug Sieg, the CEO of wealth management firm Lord Abbett & Co.
It took him a year through the Korn Ferry Tour to get his PGA Tour card — his rookie season began as the American team was headed to Italy two years ago for the Ryder Cup.
Griffin still wears the Lord Abbett & Co. logo on his shirt — just not this week. He is dressed in the red, white and blue of Team USA in the ultimate team event.
“If you’re motivated and you have the right resources behind you and you have self-belief, you can chase your dreams and achieve them,” he said.