The University of North Carolina has its hands all over the sports world! Former Tar Heel Ben Griffin finds himself in the mix of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs. Let’s dive in…
Griffin’s Unconventional Journey
Griffin attended the University of North Carolina for four years and graduated in 2017 before pursuing his professional golf dreams. The Chapel Hill native had a stellar career as a Tar Heel, ending it with the second-lowest scoring average in the history of North Carolina Golf.
Griffin’s journey to the playoffs has been unconventional. Despite turning pro in 2018, he played just four PGA Tour events before the 2022-2023 season. Griffin spent over a year grinding qualifiers for the Korn Ferry Tour (a minor league tour of sorts) before failing to get through Q-School. Soon enough, he was working a desk job.
But Tar Heels aren’t known to quit, and with the help of family friends, Griffin gave golf one final shot toward the end of 2021. This time, Griffin made it onto the Korn Ferry Tour and played so well that he acquired a PGA Tour card for the 2022-2023 season, much faster than it usually takes a young player to reach the Tour.
A Griffin Rises
Griffin’s 2022-2023 season has been nothing short of spectacular. In 30 starts this season he’s made 19 cuts including 8 top 25’s. These results were good enough to sneak him into the first round of the playoffs, where the top 70 players teed it up on Thursday at the St. Jude Classic in Tennessee.
Griffin’s goal is to place high enough this week that he rises from 70th, where he started, to the top 50 for next week’s second round. Griffin currently sits at -7, putting him in a tie for 15th place in the tournament. In the FedEx Cup standings, this result projects to move him up to 59th place overall. So Griffin will need a big Sunday to keep his season alive.
Between Griffin and Ryan Gerard who qualified for the U.S. Open earlier this season, keep an eye on these young former Tar Heels. Big things are on the horizon!
