PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Lanto Griffin didn’t need any extra motivation, but the email that came through his inbox Wednesday night didn’t hurt.
After finishing outside the top 150 in FedExCup points this season, Griffin didn’t think his status would be great for next year. However, he was shocked to read that he did not have a guaranteed Korn Ferry Tour start in his back pocket.
“It kind of pissed me off,” Griffin said.
What did Griffin do? He took his frustrations out on the court in the final leg of the PGA Tour Q-School, 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 walk away with medalists .
Griffin doesn’t have to worry about the Korn Ferry Tour starting 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 is against the wall, you don’t have a choice,” Griffin said. “Obviously it could have been a different route for me this week, but my focus was good. The ride and everything is still there, and I really didn’t want it to end.
Griffin’s victory at the Q-School marks his first victory of any kind since his first 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 the subsequent microdiscectomy that sidelined Griffin, then No. 65 in points, 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 grassroots.
Griffin now admits that he came back too early, perhaps six months too early, and that he struggled under the pressure of participating in a medical extension. Last year he didn’t have a top-10 finish, and this season, at the ISCO Championship in July, he had just one before losing his card.
But he took confidence from making nine straight cuts, and if he could just start making putts — he was No. 123 in strokes gained putting this season — he’d have no problem regaining his place on the big tour to win.
The hot flatstick, thanks to a lineup revelation Monday morning, showed up this week when Griffin fired three shots in the 60s, the lone outlier a respectable 72 under brutal scoring conditions Friday at Sawgrass Country Club. He opened Sunday’s final round with an eagle and threw in four more birdies before the turn, allowing him to cruise into the clubhouse for what would be a three-shot victory over Hayden Buckley, another former PGA Tour player looking is 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 finished two spots ahead of Griffin in points. Unlike Griffin, however, Buckley did not have a single start on any tour he was offered.
“A big relief,” said Buckley, who put a new driver and 3-wood into play this week, finishing with back-to-back 67s. “There was a time today when I felt it slipping away, but I had a great feeling all week from the moment I stepped foot on the property. … It’s no secret that I played terribly this year, but I knew I was this close to playing good golf.”
In addition to Griffin and Buckley wearing #TourBound hats around TPC Sawgrass’ expansive clubhouse on Sunday night, four others were: 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 but highly emotional Argentinian who overcame a five-down start to shoot 9 under this weekend and retain 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’s qualifying for five Korn Ferry Tour events this year; and Matthew Riedel, who had perhaps the most stressful Sunday.
Riedel started the final day on a level playing field with Alistair Docherty. Both were relaxed as they warmed up on a boggy driving range, Docherty on the far left, directly opposite the amateurs who were battling wedges before taking to the nearby Stadium Course. Riedel’s caddy even threw golf balls in an attempt to land them on a target green about 75 yards away.
The pair would then combine to shoot 6 over on the front nine.
Docherty, who fell one chance short of earning his PGA Tour card at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship a few months ago, made a double bogey on the par-5 opening hole and didn’t card a birdie until the penultimate hole, ultimately finishing solo seventh, another single shot off his PGA Tour card. Riedel scored just two pars in his first ten holes, with 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 the final stage after finishing in the top five of the PGA Tour University race. “That was by far the most nervous. It was a bit of tunneling because you just couldn’t see anything. … But I had a lot of self-confidence and I’m glad it turned out the way it did.”
Riedel later added, “I’ve got to get a little better.”
Riedel is fully aware of the next challenge he will face. That includes Griffin, who earlier this week called next year the toughest ever to keep his PGA Tour card. Last season, no Q-School graduate entered more than three of the first ten tournaments, and none retained their card, with Hayden Springer coming closest at No. 127 in points. But as Griffin notes, the problem is likely to worsen in 2025 as fully exempt players play more to break the new barrier for job security, No. 100 in the FedExCup, down 25 spots from before. This year, only five of the Korn Ferry Tour’s 29 graduates (with the exception of Ben Kohles, who was in a better category as the tour’s 2023 points winner) finished in the top 100.
This isn’t the first time Griffin has spoken out about the ever-evolving PGA Tour landscape. After months of voicing his opinions, Griffin joined the Players Advisory Council this year but admitted he was frustrated by politics, which influenced the creation of a leaner and meaner circuit in 2026.
“I don’t agree with it,” Griffin said. “I don’t think the changes that have been made are the best for golf and I don’t think they are the best 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 so that competition is the most important thing again.”
That was the case on this Sunday.
And no one competed more masterfully than Griffin, who after recent setbacks – and almost one more this week – is hungrier than ever.
“It’s like an addiction,” Griffin added. “We’ve been grinding so hard for so many years. And the last few, just injuries and a different body feeling, you’re not sure if you’ll ever be able to do it again, get back to that level. You see these young kids have made it this far, and they’re healthy, and they’re single; they have no families. I want to experience this now with my family, 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 few more songs.
