Lanto Griffin will return to the PGA Tour, and he will be joined by five others.
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Lanto Griffin played “very angry” this week.
On Wednesday, he was told he would not qualify on the Korn Ferry Tour after his second consecutive loss on the PGA Tour, but by Sunday, none of it mattered.
Griffin shot a final-round 7-under 63 at the PGA Tour Q-School’s TPC Sawgrass Day Valley Course to earn medalist honors and a PGA Tour card for the 2025 season. He will be joined by five other golfers, six of whom finished the week at four under par or better, with the top five and the tie earning PGA Tour membership.
It was Griffin’s first victory worldwide since his rookie season on the PGA Tour, when he won the 2019 Houston Open, but his game has gradually declined since then.
After continued success, he finished in the top 100 in the FedExCup standings three years in a row, but was sidelined by a back injury in the summer of 2022.
His comebacks in 2023 and 2024 resulted in just one top-10 finish and a loss of full-time status on the PGA Tour, but that’s not what got Q-School riled him up this week.
Griffin fell out of the past championship category last season and made 22 starts, but still ranked 158th in the fall FedExCup standings, a long way from the top 125 needed to retain the 2025 card. Big gap.
Then on Wednesday, he learned he wouldn’t be guaranteed any starts on the Korn Ferry Tour next season if he wanted to earn his card back that way.
“That email Wednesday night saying I wasn’t even guaranteeing the Korn Ferry Tour would start, it pissed me off a little bit, made me angry,” he said Sunday. “So it’s a little bit too much – you know, my mental coach and I have been talking about as an athlete, playing with pressure. It doesn’t matter what it looks like. Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about this week. The goal to get here and compete as hard as I can.
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Mission accomplished Sunday night when he addressed members of the media.
After three rounds at Sawgrass Country Club and TPC Sawgrass’ Day Valley Course, Griffin headed out on Sunday to start the day in eighth place and surge up the leaderboard, ahead of everyone else. Three shots.
“I think when you’re in a tight spot, you have to do it – you don’t have a choice,” he said. “Obviously this week could go a different way for me, but my focus is good.
