1st Tour win long time coming for Griffin
HUMBLE, Texas – Six feet away from his first PGA Tour victory, Lanto Griffin never felt calmer.
It was only after his par putt fell into the middle of the cup Sunday in the Houston Open that the 31-year-old struggled to contain so many emotions.
He describes his parents as hippies and his childhood as flush with fun and love, short on cash. His father, who bought him a starter set of clubs even though no one in the family ever played golf, died when Griffin was 12. A local pro in Virginia, Steve Prater, gave him an honorary membership when Griffin’s father died and continues as a coach and a mentor.
“This is going to be a week that I’ll never, never forget – regardless what happens the rest of my career,” Griffin said. “I feel very fortunate beyond words.”
Locked in a tight race on the back nine, Griffin took the lead with a 35-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole and then won with that 6-footer for par, which gave him a 3-under-par 69 and a oneshot victory over Mark Hubbard and Scott Harrington. All three were on the Korn Ferry Tour last year. None had ever won on the PGA Tour.
The victory sends Griffin to the Masters and the PGA Championship, gives him a two-year PGA Tour exemption and forces him to come up with a fresh set of goals for the rest of the year. Except for statistics that take a season to complete, he ticked off most of them in Houston.
He won.
He played in a final group. He wanted to play in two majors. “I’ll check whatever I have off there and re-evaluate after this week,” Griffin said.
Griffin played away from the water on the 18th, knowing he could handle any shot from there because the pin was to the left. His approach was just on the green, 60 feet away, and it rolled 6 feet by.
When he made the winner, he dropped his putter and raised both arms before covering his head.
“Just a childhood dream. That’s what we all play for,” he said.
He thought about the Masters and Maui, where the year starts for PGA Tour winners, and the FedExCup playoffs. It was a lot to take in.
“It’s mind-boggling,” he said. “Just didn’t seem like it would ever happen, but at the same time, I believe in myself and I was extremely calm out there today. Just bizarre.”
Griffin won on the Korn Ferry Tour last year and in 2017. He also won in Uruguay on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica in 2015 when he was trying to make his way to the big leagues.
Griffin finished at 14-under 274 and moved to the top of the FedExCup points standings as the PGA Tour heads to Asia for three weeks of big purses and limited fields with no cuts.
But first, a celebration that Griffin feels was a long time coming.
His phone showed 447 text messages, and Griffin planned to get to all of them. He looked again, it was at 457.
“We’re moving up,” he said. “Big thanks to everybody that supports me back home. Man, it’s going to be fun celebrating with everybody.”