‘I Honestly Didn’t Even Feel That Great’: Ben Griffin Admits Struggles as U.S Open Qualifiers Knock on His Doors

A runner-up finish at the 2024 RBC Canadian Open helped Ben Griffin grab a spot at the Open Championship that will kick off at Royal Troon in July. However, the fact still remains that he lost out on his first win and with it, a chance to qualify automatically at the upcoming U.S. Open. This, in turn, has forced him to proceed with his plans to compete at Monday’s 36-hole U.S. Open Final Qualifying event despite admitting to having some struggles with his gameplay.

The professional was spotted in an interview following the final round at the Hamilton Golf & Country Club. During the same, he went ahead to speak candidly while divulging the difficulties he faced at the start of the event, before recounting the positives he managed to take in.

Ben Griffin honestly recalls his struggles at the RBC Canadian Open

“It felt like there was a lid on the cup for most of the day for me,” said Griffin, in the post-round presser, while alluding to the four days of play at the RBC Canadian Open. The golfer finished T2 while scoring a 15-under 265 and raking in a cut of $1,024,600 from the $9.4 million prize pool. “Another second-place finish is tough,” admitted the pro before honestly speaking out about his difficulties, “Going into this week, at least the first round, I was really struggling with my swing, and I honestly didn’t even feel that great with my putter.”

It’s not a surprise that he felt that way, especially when looking at the fact that he scored three bogeys while carding an equal amount of birdies on an even-par first round (Thursday). He was, fortunately, able to work on his gameplay a lot during the rest of the days leading up to the finale; “I practiced putting in my hotel room for probably three hours this morning and probably an hour last night.” This helped him dish out a total of 18 birdies (6 in R2, 7 in R3, and 5 in R4) over the rest of the days. Nevertheless, he felt a little dissatisfied with his putting as opposed to his strokes when he disclosed, “Even though I made all the putts yesterday, I wasn’t feeling as comfortable. I actually felt good with my stroke, I just came one short.”

Despite all his struggles amidst finishing T2, Ben Griffin made sure to have some fun. Even the champ of the event, Robert MacIntyre, per the runner-up, wasn’t too tensed all thanks to them teeing alongside each other at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. “I really just had a ton of fun out there,” added the North Carolina native, “I played with Bob before earlier this year at Zurich and we had a great time, so I think it might have helped him too, being a little more comfortable, having some conversations from time to time.”

He will, regardless of the struggles, look to place himself in the field for the upcoming major at Pinehurst No. 2 by qualifying for the same through the 36-hole single-day event at the Cherry Hill Club in southern Ontario. But he might find himself in a tough spot if his gameplay troubles get coupled with his eye injury.

The injury in Griffin’s eyes

Ben Griffin, unfortunately, has a total of five holes in his retina (four in the left eye, one in the right eye) due to him having lattice degeneration or thinning of the retina. “Yeah, I got to get laser work,” admitted Griffin, “I got holes connecting my retina to my eye, so if I don’t repair them, I’m at risk of retina detachment, so I’ve got to get those filled to try to keep that issue so I don’t have to think about it too much.” He had scheduled himself for a laser treatment on Tuesday following the qualifiers.

Although he can fly to the Southeast and undergo the surgery before traveling to the Memorial Tournament, there is a high chance that the plan will be rescheduled. “I might be blind on like Wednesday,” added Griffin while mentioning how there might be a 1-2 day recovery period if he were to take the treatment. The golfer was still hopeful of making it to the U.S. Open as well as the Memorial Tournament. His fans would want him to make do with his words; “It’s all good. I’ll be right back at it next week now… so I’m excited.”

Hopefully, the situation will get sorted out soon!