CROMWELL, Conn. — At last month’s Memorial Tournament, Ben Griffin finished runner-up to Scottie Scheffler, looking for his second win in as many weeks.
In the winner’s press conference, tournament host Jack Nicklaus was asked what makes Scheffler elite. And the 18-time major champion took a subtle shot at the players who Scheffler, the world No. 1, fended off that week in Dublin, Ohio, including Griffin.
“I think that great players are ones who rise to the occasion and ones who know how to play coming down the stretch in important events,” Nicklaus said. “Looking at the leaderboard today, [Scheffler] didn’t have—I mean, Ben Griffin’s a nice player, Sepp Straka is a nice player, Nick Taylor is a nice player. Those were all the guys that were there basically coming down the stretch. But [Scheffler] knows that those guys are not in his league.
“Now, if [Scheffler] would have had—I don't know who else it might have been, but if he had somebody else at the top, if Xander [Schauffele] or somebody like that would have been there, he might have said, ‘Well, that might be a little tougher. I might have to do something different.’ He didn't have to.”
After Griffin’s final round at the Travelers Championship, Sports Illustrated asked him if he had heard Nicklaus’s comments and how he felt about them.
There’s no hard feelings.
“Look, I have a ton of respect for Jack Nicklaus,” Griffin says. “He’s done an incredible thing for the game of golf and he’s one of the huge pioneers in this game.”
And Griffin hopes to prove the Golden Bear wrong.
“I use a lot of that stuff as kind of motivation,” said Griffin, the world No. 15, who has won twice on Tour this season. “Maybe I don't have the resume of a Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy or an elite player, but in this current moment, I have no doubt that I can beat those guys.
“And so, is Scottie an elite golfer compared to me? Like, absolutely. But there’s nothing holding me back from being an elite player. All I have to do is go out—and I could have easily won the U.S. Open if I played a little better and putted better.
“Like, all of a sudden, I win that and I win the British Open. Now Jack Nicklaus is saying, ‘OK, maybe Ben’s actually an elite player. So I think a lot of people can make comments. It’s about past results, but I’m more focused on the future and what I'm capable of doing and trying to accomplish those goals.”
When Griffin walked off the 18th green Sunday at the Memorial, he shook Nicklaus’s hand and said, ‘I’ll get it next year.”
If that happens, Nicklaus might be changing his tune about Griffin.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ben Griffin Responds to Jack Nicklaus's Subtle Stray After the Memorial Tournament .