FORT WORTH, Texas – Ben Griffin quickly smashed his tie with co-leader Matty Schmidt and thought it wasn’t easy, even after leading by just five shots in the final round at the Colonial.
Schmidt made it interesting all the way to the end.
Griffin won his first individual PGA Tour a month after winning the team event, shooting 71 over and finishing at 12 under 268 in the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Schmidt forced Griffin to make a 4-foot putt on the 72nd hole after a tip from the deep roughness behind the green entered the birdie. Griffin saved par from rough and suffocated at the club, far surpassing the ball on his feet with his tip while standing in the bunker. Schmid Shot 72.
“First of all, it was like hitting that third shot,” Griffin said. “In my head I was thinking that Matty might probably make it. Luckily, I had that four footer. I felt pretty good about it.
Griffin and Schmidt earned matching scores for each of the first three days at Schmidt, a 27-year-old German who won their first tour in their 79th start.
Schmidt surged forward early in the third round, taking a three-shot lead. Griffin had a five-shot edge after just five holes in the final round, and in the end Schmidt went inside the stroke with a two-shot swing at 16, returning two leads in the holes to play.
Scotty Scheffler, the world’s number one and hometown favourite who won the PGA Championship last week, failed to match Saturday’s 10-shot surge. The three major winners started six shots, but only had two birdies and bogeys for 69.
Schaeffler missed out on his first start to win three times in a row since Dustin Johnson eight years ago, finishing in the top three at the Colonial for the fourth straight year. He tied himself up to the fourth and shot one shot behind Bud Corey.
“Overall, it was a really rewarding day,” Schaeffler said. “I think Friday probably hurt me in terms of winning this tournament, but of the 3 of the four days, I felt that what I played was pretty solid.”
Ricky Fowler never threatened his co-leader. Both started slowly, ending hopes of decline at 7 in 11th place on par 5. Fowler scored 74 after being in the top 25 in the first half of 2024 and being ranked 127th.
Griffin, 29, worked with Andrew Novak, who finished at the Colonial at age 6 for his victory at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans last month. They then left the opening for others, as Griffin did on Sunday.
Griffin and Schmidt took a four-shot lead in the final round, leaving both still 1-2 despite finishing on par that day.
Schmidt had six bogeys and double bogeys, allowing him to go with six birdies, but Griffin had four bogeys after opening with me and birdies.
“There’s no safe lead on the PGA Tour,” Griffin said. “It can feel like a tournament. Maybe if it’s Scotty Schaeffler with a five-shot lead, that’s over. I was trying to hold the pedal down. I kept hitting a lot of drivers and trying to give birdie putts.
Griffin hit four of the 14 fairways and seven of the 18 greens, but made consecutive test par putts on the back nine.
Schmidt went inside one by hitting a tee shot within 3 feet on a par 3 feet before Griffin missed the par putt. Griffin saves Parr from behind the tree on the fairway, and Schmidt inserts the ball into the bunker and leaves the hole, rough and bogey.
“Only two places were green or long left right, but I think then I had to tip up multiple times,” Schmidt said. “I think the up and down was a little easier. At that point, I just tried to make a 5. Thankfully, I did that.”
He then made things interesting in the final hall.
“To be honest, I tried to hit the left a little longer,” Schmidt said. “I hit it pretty high, then stopped right away, came out a little to the right, and was a bit lucky, but deserved.”
Tommy Fleetwood got caught up in the fight by shooting 31 on the front nine, but after losing momentum with a bogey on 11, he had another highlight on 18. His birdie putt stopped at the lips of the cup in the final hole. Nature is mandatory.
Fleetwood shot 68 and tied Schaeffler with a top-10 finish in 41st place on the PGA Tour, the most among players who have not won since 1983.
