SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 7, 2023

Ben Griffin

Country Club of Jackson

Quick Quotes

Q. Ben, you're in at 20-under with a three-shot lead. Tell us about that day.

BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, it was a solid day. It's kind of funny, I didn't see Kira this morning, but yesterday I told her I was going to shoot 63, and in my mind I had 66 today. I don't know why, but 66 came to my mind, and I ended up doing it again.

Yeah, I felt like that was a good goal, try to get three on each side. I knew it was going to be windy and I needed to make sure I missed it in the right spots. Felt like I left myself a lot of 20-, 30-footers, but it was on holes where I needed to do, so if I had missed it on the wrong side, I was going to be scrambling to try to make pars.

Was very proud of myself the way I stuck to the game plan, and I missed a few tee shots on the back nine but was able to escape, and that's always been one of the strengths of my career.

As much as I want to be aggressive, I've learned on the PGA TOUR you've got to be extremely disciplined. It's fun when I mis-hit shots because it gives me the opportunity to pull off something creative, but it's a lot more fun when you have stress-free golf, and I felt like I did a good job of that for probably 14, 15 holes today.

Q. You said you've learned that you have to be extremely disciplined. Was it Bermuda that you learned that, or is it just a general number of tournaments?

BEN GRIFFIN: I think it's over the course of an entire season, and even the Korn Ferry TOUR last year, it's so easy to be aggressive and want to go at every pin, and I see it done by college kids a lot, and that's where guys get in trouble.

I did it when I was younger, and you shoot really good rounds, but you've got to turn those 72s, 73s, 74s into upper 60s on the PGA TOUR if you want to have a chance and get yourself in contention.

The biggest thing I've learned is hitting the greens. Doesn't matter if it's 40, 50 feet away. It can be a lot better than being paces off the green in certain spots.

This game is about managing misses, and I'm proud of the way I've been able to do that this week and really over the course of the season. I just feel like I've been a little tighter with my shots this week.

Q. Speaking of Bermuda, what from that final round last year did you learn that you can apply for tomorrow?

BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, Bermuda was great. I just got too aggressive down the stretch, and I wasn't committed to lines on my putts. I learned that pretty quickly, and I haven't necessarily had the opportunity to be in contention since then where I've been in the lead or had a chance.

Tomorrow I'm excited for the challenge because I'm going to build off that and try to make sure I'm continuing to visualize smart shots, smart yet aggressive. Missing on the right sides but also having committed swings, and on the greens making sure I dial in my reads and commit to them because I felt like in Bermuda I second-guessed myself a couple times. It was windy, and it's easy to do that out there.

When you second-guess yourself in golf, that's where you get yourself in trouble, and really all sports. I've said "disciplined" a few times, but it's so important to just really be committed and focus in on your targets and execute that way.

Q. How much confidence do you have with the putter right now?

BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, putter has been awesome. It's funny, earlier in the week I didn't feel super great with my putter and I grinded on the putting green for a few hours both Tuesday and Wednesday. Felt like my stroke is getting better. I did some stuff in the hotel room, too.

I just tried to learn from Tiger Woods. I grew up watching Tiger; I know all of his drills, and I try to do the same stuff he does because he was so clutch throughout his career.

Yeah, putter feels good. Feel like I've got it flowing. Really excited that I was able to get those two down on 17 and 18. Tough four-footers left to right, a lot of grain, late in the day, those are tough putts. Proud of the way I executed those, and I'm going to build off those tomorrow.

Q. What does tonight look like for you? What's your plan tonight?

BEN GRIFFIN: I'm going to go to the therapy truck. I've done that after every round. Those guys know what to do to me. I'm going to do Normatec for 10 minutes, and I'm going to ice a couple of my toes. They've just been sore for some reason. I don't know way if it's the way I'm standing or what, but the last couple weeks I've noticed it. Icing the toes a little bit, and I'll go to Thai. I've gone to the same Thai restaurant the last three nights, and I'm superstitious, and I'm going to do the exact same thing.

Q. What's the restaurant?

BEN GRIFFIN: It's called Jutamas. I don't want too many people to show up there, but the last few days there's been like four other tables. But yeah, I'm going to order the same thing that I did. I like kind of sticking to the same game plans, especially when something is working. I eat the same thing every day for breakfast and lunch, and I do that throughout the season, but this week I'm just doing dinner, too. Why not? It's working.

Q. Do you have any family or friends here on-site with you this week that will be out there with you tomorrow?

BEN GRIFFIN: I'm sure I'll have family and friends show up tomorrow. Right now I'm solo. I don't know if I play better that way or not, but I'm not going to try to change anything. I had a couple friends that asked if they wanted to come the other day, and I was like, you can do whatever you want, but I'm not going to try to change myself and work with your plans.

I don't know, I'm just being so superstitious right now, but I'm a golfer, I'm in sports. Everyone has their superstitions. I'm going to try to do the same stuff. I'm going to have family and friends out tomorrow I'm sure, but I'm going to be focused on the course and just try to do the same stuff with Alex tomorrow on the course, just focus on our game plan and try to execute.