Ben Griffin couldn’t quite keep pace with Scottie Scheffler at The Memorial Tournament but he still had some kind words for the world number one as he reminisced about their junior golf days.
With Griffin very much only just finding his feet on the PGA Tour this season, he’s had to sit back and watch Scheffler dominate for the last two years.
Now though, Griffin is putting himself into positions to compete with Scheffler and despite coming up short at The Memorial, he still impressed.
The duo could now well end up on the same Ryder Cup team in what would be a full circle moment.
And when quizzed on Scheffler and just how good he’s always been, Griffin had some nice words as he paid tribute to Scheffler’s effort.
Ben Griffin says what it was like playing against Scottie Scheffler as a junior
A number of the top players on the PGA Tour go way back to the college days together and it’s no different with Griffin and Scheffler.
Right now, they’re both at different stages of their career but speaking to the media after The Memorial, Griffin recalled his experiences of playing with Scottie as a youngster.
“No. I don’t think any of us in junior golf ever like think we’re going to be the best players on the PGA TOUR,” Griffin replied when asked if he always saw Scheffler as being the best.
“It’s funny, at the time we’re like our goals are to obviously get through college and get on the PGA TOUR. We want to be like the best players on TOUR, but we’re so young that we’re just competing against each other. And we’re all pretty good at golf, but you don’t really expect it.
“It’s really cool now being at the age where we’re all at like kind of the top of the game, Morikawa, Sam Burns, there’s a big list of names that are kind of in my age group, so it’s pretty cool to have shared experiences in junior golf and now be out here. But, yeah, I would say a message to like any junior golfers is just like you got to trust the process and keep learning and keep your love for the game because if you’re a junior golfer right now you will be on the PGA TOUR more than likely and you just got to stick with it and trust it and don’t get intimidated by it.”
Pressed further on if he had any clue that Scheffler might being the best out of everyone, Griffin admitted the signs weren’t obvious, albeit he paid tribute to Scheffler’s work ethic.
“No, I don’t think so. Look, Scottie achieved a lot in junior golf, but by no means was he as dominant as he is right now. I remember, I think he might have won Player of the Year maybe one or two of the years in junior golf. I remember AJGA invitationals, I won one, I’m sure he won a couple.
“I mean, a bunch of different guys were winning. So he definitely wasn’t as dominant as he is now. He’s just really perfected his craft and really loves the grind and is always trying to get better, and so that’s what separates him so much from a lot of guys is he’s just put in so many hours of being pretty much a robot.”
Scottie Scheffler told he now does something better than Tiger Woods ever did
The big measuring stick for a lot of players on the PGA Tour is seeing how close they can get to being at the level that Tiger Woods reached.
Not many – if any – will be as talented or have the success that Woods enjoyed. But in terms of the yardstick, he is the one they all look up.
Now though, Scottie Scheffler has been told he’s actually surpassed Woods when it comes to his driving.
| Tiger Woods 2005 | Scottie Scheffler 2025 | |
| Driving distance | 2nd | 68th |
| Total driving | 86th | 7th |
| SG off the tee | 4th | 2nd |
| Driving accuracy | 191st | 26th |
It’s quite the statement from Sky’s Nick Dougherty to put Scheffler ahead of Woods but he makes a very valid case.
As Griffin says, the signs from being a junior might not always be there. But when it comes to sheer consistency and will to win, the current world number one is leading the charge right now and setting the standards just as Tiger did.
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