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, daughter Navy Collins, 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.