A month ago, Ben Griffin achieved a lifelong dream: winning on the PGA Tour.
There was a caveat, though. It was the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the Tour’s lone team event. Therefore, he was a co-winner with Andrew Novak. It didn’t make the feat any less special, especially after quitting golf several years ago and becoming a mortgage loan officer. However, Griffin was still searching for an elusive individual title.
That wait is over.
Griffin, finishing at 12 under, won the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club by one stroke over Matti Schmid after some dramatics on the 72nd hole.
“My golf game felt great all week long,” Griffin said. “I was very confident out there. Put in a lot of hard work really all of this year leading up to, I mean, you could say this, but arguably the last month and a half or so.”
MORE: Final results, payouts from the Charles Schwab Challenge
On the par-4 18th, Griffin hit his second shot on the lip of the greenside bunker and knocked the ball to 4 feet with the ball above his feet. Schmid, however, heightened the anxiety around Griffin’s winning putt by holing a 28-foot chip from off the green. But Griffin didn’t let the moment rattle him, and he buried the putt to avoid a playoff.
“Honestly, I just tried to hit it long left a little bit,” said Schmid, whose runner-up finish qualified him for next week’s Memorial Tournament, his first signature event. “Hit it pretty high so it would stop quite quickly and just came out a bit right and went in, yeah. A bit of luck, but deserved it.”
Added Griffin: “A hell of a chip-in by Matti on 18 to apply the pressure. That was crazy.“
WHEN HE NEEDED IT MOST! 💥💥
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) May 25, 2025
Matti Schmid chips in on the 72nd hole to get within one! pic.twitter.com/uAX4bXxnIc
The 29-year-old entered the final round tied with Schmid, a 27-year-old German searching for his maiden win after 78 career starts.
Griffin jumped out of the gate with an eagle and birdie on the first two holes. Roughly an hour later, his lead was at five. But he came down to earth with consecutive bogeys on Nos. 6 and 7.
Exiting the par-3 16th, Griffin was 4 over in his last 11 holes—and the damage could have been worse, but the North Carolinian saved par on No. 14 after a wayward tee shot, which led to line of sight relief, and on No. 15 by getting up-and-down from the greenside bunker.
Meanwhile, Schmid’s putter was balky in the final round after leading the field in strokes-gained putting through 54 holes. And heading to the 16th tee, he was 3 over on the day. However, he birdied the hole, while Griffin, who flew the green, bogeyed. The lead was down to one.
Schmid's bogey on the par-4 17th, though, would be the difference, with him and Griffin both playing the final two holes at even-par. And with the 4-footer on the last, Griffin secured his second victory in his last five starts and jumped to No. 5 in the seasonlong FedExCup standings.
Now, Griffin joins some of golf’s most illustrious names—Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth, to name a few—on the Wall of Champions at Colonial.
“It’s really incredible to have lifted that trophy on 18 with so many incredible names and greats in the game of golf,” Griffin said. “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.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Former Loan Officer Ben Griffin Wins Charles Schwab Challenge After Wild 72nd Hole.
