Schauffele in English Si Wo Kim in Korean
Todd Kelly– Golfweek-
Ben Griffin is on a roll. Five days after winning his first individual title on the PGA Tour, which was his second win following a team victory a month ago, Griffin posted a 7-under 65 to kick start his 2025 Memorial Tournament.
Griffin had three birdies and an eagle in his first eight holes and then bounced back from consecutie bogeys on Nos. 11 and 12 to record four more birdies over his final five holes, including three straight on the 16th, 17th and 18th.
All in all, it’s a great start for Griffin in Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, where his playing partner was rightfully impressed.
“I told him when we finished ‘Keep it going, things will turn around for you pretty soon (smiling),'” said Shane Lowry. “He pretty much holed everything he looked at today. It was good. We bounced off each other, we all played really nicely, and it’s nice when you get a good group like that. My 3 under doesn’t look that great beside his 7 under, but 3 under is a good score out there on this course, it’s pretty difficult.”
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Griffin was a jovial mood after his round, joking about a couple of shots that got away from him before discussing his round.Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle
“Yeah, a couple water balls. Really need to go to the range and work on my game to clean that stuff up. But, no (laughing),” he said. “It was an incredible day. Kind of building on what I kind of was doing last week, making a ton of birdies, staying aggressive. This is one of the toughest golf courses we play on Tour and you’ve got to kind of be on your game to make birdies and give yourself a lot of looks. I felt like I kind of did that.”
A week ago, after winning at Colonial Country Club, he talked about the significance and the history of the venue.
“It’s really incredible to have lifted that trophy on 18 with so many incredible names and greats in the game of golf, he said last Sunday after the Charles Schwab Challenge. “I’m very blessed to be where I am in my career to even consider myself a champion along with those guys. It’s been a lot of hard work that’s gone into this, and it’s an awesome place for me to get my first individual win and such a historical venue.”
Well, he’s on track to win at another historic golf course dubbed Jack’s Place. His strong finish of three straight birdies was unique.
“I was just talking about it outside. I can’t remember the last time I birdied the last three holes of a tournament,” Griffin said. “My dad always used to tell me: “Par the first and last holes’ and unfortunately, I birdied the first and the last, so (laughing), but it’s always great to finish with a birdie.”
The two before that was rewarding as well, he said.
“The birdies on 16 and 17, those are some of the hardest holes out here. So proud of the way I stayed aggressive on those holes, attacked, never really was trying to play any sort of conservative shots, was just trying to keep the pedal down, and you got to take advantage of that on days like today where putts are dropping.”
