Schwab Challenge: Ben Griffin Holds Off Matti Schmid With a Staggering Finish at Colonial

Ben Griffin stormed in with great enthusiasm.
PGA Tour’s Schwab Challenge
On May 25, starting the last round with an eagle followed by a birdie to pull ahead of Matti Schmid, who was tied with him at the beginning of the day.

Griffin didn’t secure another birdie at the Colonial Country Club but managed to maintain his composure with crucial par saves and capitalized on Schmid’s string of mistakes, ultimately winning by one stroke at 12-under-par 268.

Bud Cauley
In Palm Beach Gardens (67), the player secured third place with a score of 9-under. The PGA champion and world No. 1 concluded the event.
Scottie Scheffler
(69) was tied with Tommy Fleetwood (68) for fourth place at 8-under par.

Griffin (71), who graduated from the University of North Carolina,
He won his initial PGA Tour championship alongside Andrew Novak.
In last month’s Zurich Classic, a 4-foot putt on the final hole secured the win after Schmid (72), who had chipped in for a birdie from 28 feet behind the green, narrowed the lead down to just one stroke.

Griffing received $1,710,000 and shifted to what is now estimated as the fifth position on the list.
PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup
point list and number 13 on the list
PGA Tour money list
with $4,916,472.

Griffin has secured two victories and finished tied for eighth place at the PGA Championship within just five weeks. This is quite an achievement for a golfer who had stepped away from the sport in 2021 to become a mortgage loan officer but later returned to reclaim his position on the Korn Ferry Tour and eventually make his way back onto the PGA Tour.

Ben Griffin was ahead by five strokes after five holes.

At the first hole, Griffin sank an impressive eagle putt from about 15 feet out. On the very next hole, he added another stroke with a short birdie putt of three feet, putting him at 16-under par. Just three holes afterward, when Schmid encountered trouble and carded a double bogey following his ball landing in a hazard, Griffin extended his advantage to a commanding five-stroke lead.

Schmid narrowed the gap with birdies at holes 8 and 9, but he came up short on a 7-foot putt for par that would have brought him within one stroke of the leader. He also fell behind after hitting his second shot into the right bunker off the fairway at hole 17, unable to land his third shot onto the green.

At hole 14, Griffin managed a par putt from 12 feet out, followed by another par putt of 8 feet at hole 15. He also excelled at hole 17 when he chipped in from the fringe for a par.

From the right rough at the 18th hole, his second attempt failed to reach the green. Griffin found himself in a sand trap and opted to hold his club near the middle of the shaft, then deftly directed the ball towards the left side. The ball came to rest just 3 feet and 11 inches away from the cup.

Following Schmid giving himself one final opportunity, Griffin sank the decisive shot into the hole.

The article initially appeared in the Florida Times-Union.
Schwab Challenge: Ben Griffin stumbles through the finish line to edge out Matti Schmid at Colonial