Game finally loving Ben Griffin back

Sitting in his office in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, three years ago – working as a mortgage loan officer with his dreams of playing the PGA Tour packed away like Christmas decorations in June – Ben Griffin believed he had made peace with his career decision.

Griffin had been a good college player at the University of North Carolina, and he had tried the pro game, but nine missed cuts in 12 combined starts on the Korn Ferry and PGA Tour Canada in 2019 dented his confidence and his bank account.

Like so many others, Griffin learned how hard it can be to love a game that doesn’t love you back.

“I didn’t miss it,” Griffin said at the Players Championship, where he spent parts of three days on the leaderboard before finishing T35 after a triple bogey on the 72nd hole cost him 22 spots, not to mention thousands of dollars.

Griffin spent his days and nights in Chapel Hill, where he was born and raised, hanging with friends, hitting the hot spots along Franklin Street and letting golf go on without him. He pla...