'Real Estate Loan Staff' Griffin 2nd Place "Ah, 2.5m Par Putt"

Sanderson Farms Championship 4R +2 Over Par
Missed Par Putt on 18th Hole Allows Playoff
List Wins with 13m Birdie, Avery Runner-up

It was a disappointing runner-up finish for Ben Griffin (USA), a former employee of a real estate mortgage loan company.

Ranked 127th in the world, Griffin struggled with a 2-over-par in the final round of the PGA Tour Sanderson Farms Championship (total prize money $8.2 million) held on the 8th (local time) at Jackson Country Club (par 72, 7,461 yards) in Jackson, Mississippi, USA. He ended up tied at 18-under-par 270 with Ludwig Aberg, Henrik Norlander (both from Sweden), Scott Stallings, and Luke List (both from the USA), but was eliminated after making par on the first hole of the playoff resumed at the 18th hole (par 4). Making his PGA Tour debut this season, Griffin missed his first chance to claim a title in his 32nd event this season and 36th PGA Tour event overall.

Ben Griffin is teeing off on the 5th hole of the 4th round at the Sanderson Farms Championship. [Jackson (USA) = AFP·Yonhap News]

Griffin started with a 3-shot lead but combined 3 birdies and 5 bogeys. After his first birdie on the 2nd hole (par 4), he faltered with consecutive bogeys on the 8th and 9th holes. In the back nine, he exchanged 2 birdies for 2 bogeys up to the 17th hole, failing to reduce his score. On the 18th hole, where he held a 1-shot lead, he missed a 2.5-meter par putt, allowing the playoff to take place.

Griffin majored in economics at the University of North Carolina. He turned professional and won on the Canadian Tour in 2018. In 2021, he quit golf and worked at a real estate brokerage before joining a financial company specializing in real estate mortgage loans. After playing on the Korn Ferry (second-tier) Tour, he entered the PGA Tour for the first time in the 2022/2023 season. Before this shared second-place finish, his best personal result was a tie for third at the Bermuda Championship in October last year.

List made a winning birdie from about 13 meters on the first playoff hole. This was his second career win, coming 1 year and 9 months after the Farmers Insurance Open in January last year, with a winner's prize of $1,476,000 (approximately 2 billion KRW). Ludwig Aberg, who earned his PGA Tour card as the number one ranked college player in the US, also performed well, finishing tied for second. Yuan Yechun (China) finished tied for 6th (17-under-par 271), and Cameron Champ (USA) ended the tournament tied for 9th (16-under-par 272).