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The situation that makes Ben Griffin the most nervous is the one we need way more of on the PGA Tour
Ezra Shaw
As some folks pointed out on Golf Twitter, the cut-line drama on Friday evening at the Waste Management Phoenix Open was absolute cinema. It reached its peak when amateur Luke Clanton had a birdie putt at the last to make the cut, which would have earned him his PGA Tour card. His ball just slid past the left edge, causing the 21-year-old to bury his head in his hands. What scenes.
Fortunately for the Florida State sensation, that wasn't the end of his tour career. He will get there in due time. But the situation highlighted an important fact - there is nothing like watching high-level players grind to make the weekend on Friday evening.
While the players trying to make the cut certainly don't live for it, they acknowledge just how much it gets their juices flowing. After all, for guys right on the cut line, they are quite literally playing for a paycheck that week. And by making the weekend you give yourself an opportunity to add a few zeroes to that paycheck, too. As Ben Griffin told us on this week's episode of The Loop podcast, fighting to make the cut is by far the situation that makes him the most nervous on the PGA Tour.
"I think that's where you see the most nerves [when you're on the cut line], at least for me," Griffin said. "Your strategy kind of changes. I was talking to someone recently at Pebble Beach, and they were like, so does there not being a cut affect your play on Friday?
"I'm like, well, actually it changes it a lot because down the stretch, if I was close to a cut line, let's say I was on a cut line on the 18th hole at Pebble. I might play that hole significantly differently than if there's no cut. I can kind of challenge the water a little bit more, try to make an eagle or birdie. Whereas if I need to make par, I might say, all right, let's hit a 3 wood off this tee, open up the fairway a little bit, maybe lay up, put a wedge on and give yourself a putt. Worst case, you're teeing it up tomorrow.
"The moments like that where the cut can kind of change your strategy and also make you feel a little bit of pressure."
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Reminder, this is coming from a guy who had a short putt to win the 2023 Sanderson Farms (Griffin missed, then lost in a playoff to Luke List). That was as pressure-packed of a situation as it gets, perhaps the only one on par with clawing to make it to Saturday.
Griffin, now in his third full season on tour, was one of the more insightful interviews we've had on the podcast. He reveals to us that he recently shot 68 in a tour event with the norovirus, breaks down the exorbitant yearly expenses for a tour pro and talks about the "former loan officer" narrative he can't quite shed. Plus, Griffin came up with an all-time Si Woo Kim club-throwing story on the spot. Please, have a listen below, and like and subscribe to The Loop wherever you get your podcasts.
(Correction: A previous version of this story said the Genesis Invitational is a no-cut event. There is a 36-hole cut this week, with the low 50 and ties—as well as all golfers within 10 strokes of the lead—moving on to the weekend).
