PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Lanto Griffin didn’t need any extra motivation, but the email that came through his inbox on Wednesday night didn’t hurt.
After finishing outside the top 150 in FedExCup points this season, Griffin figured his status for next year wouldn’t be great. He was shocked, however, to read that he didn’t have any guaranteed Korn Ferry Tour starts in his back pocket.
“It kind of pissed me off,” Griffin said.
So, what did Griffin do? He took his frustrations out on the field in PGA Tour Q-School’s final stage, capping his first trip to qualifying school in eight years with a blistering 7-under 63 on the Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass to run away with medalist honors.
Griffin doesn’t have to worry about Korn Ferry Tour starts now.
He was one of six players to earn full PGA Tour membership in this second year of the latest Q-School iteration.
“When your back’s against the wall, you don’t have a choice,” Griffin said. “Obviously, it could have gone a different route this week for me, but my focus was good. The drive and everything is still there, and I really didn’t want it to end.”
Griffin’s Q-School win marks his first victory, of any kind, since his maiden PGA Tour title at the 2019 Houston Open. A lot has happened since then – the ruptured disc in his lower back in July 2022 and ensuing microdiscectomy that kept Griffin, No. 65 in points at the time, out until the following January; marrying his longtime girlfriend, Maya, in December 2022, and welcoming their first child, a daughter, earlier this fall; helping his lifelong instructor, Steve Prater, build a new indoor facility at Blacksburg Country Club; and becoming somewhat of a spokesperson and public defender for the PGA Tour’s rank and file.
Griffin admits now that he came back too early, perhaps even as much as six months premature, and he struggled under the pressure of competing on a medical extension. He didn’t post a top-10 finish last year, and he had just one this season, at the ISCO Championship in July, before losing his card.
But he took confidence from making nine consecutive cuts, and if he could just start making putts – he was No. 123 in strokes gained: putting this season – he’d have no issues regaining his place on the big tour.
The hot flatstick, thanks to a setup revelation on Monday morning, showed up this week as Griffin fired three rounds in the 60s, the only outlier a respectable 72 in brutal scoring conditions Friday at Sawgrass Country Club. He opened Sunday’s final round with an eagle and poured in four more birdies before the turn, allowing himself to cruise into the clubhouse for what would be a three-shot win over Hayden Buckley, another former PGA Tour player who is looking to bounce back from injury. Buckley tore a rib muscle two summers ago, plummeted in strokes gained: off the tee (No. 10 to No. 90 this year) and ended up two spots ahead of Griffin in points. Unlike Griffin, though, Buckley didn’t have any starts on any tour afforded to him.
“A big relief,” said Buckley, who put a new driver and 3-wood in play this week, which he capped with back-to-back 67s. “There was a time today where I felt it slipping away, but I had a great feeling this entire week from the second I stepped foot on the property. … There’s no secret I played awful this year, but I knew I was so close to playing good golf.”
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL – DECEMBER 15: Lanto Griffin (C) stands with the top five finishers (L-R) Will Chandler, Hayden Buckley, Matthew Riedel, and Takumi Kanaya of Japan with their new PGA TOUR cards after winning the PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry on Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass on December 15, 2024 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Alejandro Tosti of Argentina was missing from the photo. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Joining Griffin and Buckley in wearing #TourBound hats on Sunday evening around TPC Sawgrass’ sprawling clubhouse were four others: Takumi Kanaya, the former world No. 1 amateur from Japan who started the week as the second highest-ranked player in the field but with no status; Alejandro Tosti, the highly talented yet highly emotional Argentine who overcame a 5-over start to shoot 9 under on the weekend and keep his card after an inconsistent rookie season; Will Chandler, who struggled mightily in college at the University of Georgia but continued the momentum from Monday-qualifying for five Korn Ferry Tour events this year; and Matthew Riedel, who had perhaps the most stressful Sunday.
Riedel began the final day tied for the lead with Alistair Docherty. Both were relaxed as they warmed up on a soggy driving range, Docherty on the far left, right up against the amateurs skulling wedges before taking on the nearby Stadium Course. Riedel’s caddie was even throwing golf balls, trying to land them on a target green some 75 yards away.
The pair would then combine to shoot 6 over on the front nine.
Docherty, who came up one shot short of earning his PGA Tour card a few months ago at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, double-bogeyed the par-5 opening hole and didn’t card a birdie until the penultimate hole, eventually ending up solo seventh, again a single shot from his PGA Tour card. Riedel notched only two pars in his first 10 holes, adding three birdies, four bogeys and a double.
“I’ve been in some nervous situations,” said Riedel, the recent Vanderbilt standout who earned his ticket to final stage after finishing in the top five of the PGA Tour University race. “That was by far the most nervous. It was a little bit of tunneling of just not being able to see anything. … But I had a lot of self-belief, and I’m glad it worked out the way it did.”
Riedel later added: “I’ve got to go get a little bit better.”
Highlights: PGA Tour Q-School 2024, Round 4
Relive the best shots and notable moments from the final round at the PGA Tour Q-School, taking place in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Riedel is fully aware of the next challenge he’s about face. So, too, is Griffin, who earlier this week called next year the hardest ever to keep one’s PGA Tour card. Last season, no Q-School graduate got into more than three of the first 10 tournaments, and none of them kept their card, with Hayden Springer coming the closest at No. 127 in points. But as Griffin points out, the problem will likely be exacerbated in 2025 as fully exempt players play more to try and crack the new job-security cutoff, No. 100 in the FedExCup, 25 spots fewer than before. This year, only five of 29 Korn Ferry Tour graduates (not including Ben Kohles, who was in a better category as the tour’s points winner in 2023) finished inside the top 100.
It’s not the first time Griffin has been vocal about the ever-evolving PGA Tour landscape. After months of voicing his opinion, Griffin joined the Player Advisory Council this year, yet admitted he was frustrated by the politics, which influenced the creation of a leaner and meaner circuit in 2026.
“I don’t agree with it,” Griffin said. “I think the changes that have been made aren’t the best thing for golf and I don’t think they’re the best thing for the PGA Tour, in my opinion, and a lot of guys agree with me. Hopefully we can find a happy medium and unite the world of professional golf and get back to the competition being the most important thing.”
On this Sunday, it was.
And no one competed more masterfully than Griffin, who after recent setbacks – and nearly one more this week – is hungrier than ever.
“It’s like an addiction,” Griffin added. “We grind so hard so many years. And the last couple, just injuries and body feeling different, you’re not sure if you’re ever going to be able to do it again, get back to that level. You see these young kids hit it so far, and they’re healthy, and they’re single; they don’t have families. I want to experience this with my family now, with my baby, and you just don’t want it to end.
“It’s like being at a really good concert; you just want there to be a couple more songs.”
