There is no question that the 2025 season was a breakout season for Ben Griffin, with the American winning three times on the PGA Tour and making his Ryder Cup debut.
Ben Griffin had established himself as a decent PGA Tour player heading into 2025. However, he would have hardly been considered a household name, having finished outside the top 60 in the FedEx Cup in the previous two seasons
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But he went on to finish last year inside the top 10 in the world rankings.
Ben Griffin explains how to hit the ball further off the tee
Griffin won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside Andrew Novak, before emerging victorious at the Charles Schwab Challenge and the World Wide Technology Championship.
He was arguably the player who staked the strongest claim to be picked by Keegan Bradley for the Ryder Cup. Unfortunately, Griffin did not have the best week at Bethpage.
Nevertheless, he is going to be one to watch in 2026. Griffin finished in the top 10 in two of the three majors he played last year.
Griffin added nearly 10 yards to his average driving distance on the PGA Tour in 2025. And speaking to Golf Digest, he explained what amateurs can do to hit the ball further.
“I got my ball speed up from the low 170s to over 180 miles per hour by spending a lot of time in the gym doing things like pushing sleds, bench presses, squats,” he said. “It’s more like a football workout than golf training. You might think the result is that I’m swinging harder, but I’m actually swinging smoother because I can put more force into the hit.
“Even if you don’t have time for the gym, the thing I’ve learned is that when you go at it harder, you tend to get your hands and arms too involved in the swing and not use your big muscles as much for power. That can get you out of sync. Instead, I like to feel like Cam Young or Sam Burns. When they get to the top of the swing, it looks like they just rotate their bodies and the club simply falls into the ball.
“Here are two ways to get your body more involved: First, set up open to your target. You’ll find it really frees you up to rotate better and let your body stay ahead of the club. Second, rehearse some downswings like I’m doing here with the idea that the club doesn’t get ahead of your body rotation. It’s lower body first, then upper body and finally your arms and club. Trust me, you’ll pick up yards this way, which means you’re going to be hitting shorter clubs into greens— a huge key to scoring.”
The challenge Griffin is facing on the PGA Tour in 2026
It is going to be extremely difficult for Griffin to follow up his 2025 season. Not only did he win three times, but he also came second twice.
At both the Memorial Tournament and the Procore Championship, the only man to finish ahead of him was Scottie Scheffler.
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Griffin’s rise to that elite level has been rapid. And thus, he will be wary of assuming that the work is done. He clearly has the potential to take that next step.
That would be winning a signature event, or perhaps even a major.
What you can guarantee is that Griffin is going to leave no stone unturned in his push to realise his full potential on the PGA Tour.
