RBC CANADIAN OPEN

June 1, 2024

Ben Griffin

Hamilton Golf and Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Great playing today. Give yourself a chance for Sunday. What's been clicking for you so far?

BEN GRIFFIN: The putter's been pretty hot. I made some long putts that are kind of almost unexpected, and when those drop you know you kind of have things going your way. Trying to keep the putter hot, keep it in play, the more fairways you can hit out here the more you can attack some of the pins. Especially on the back nine a lot of 'em are kind of tucked in spots where you need to be in the fairway. For me I felt like I did a good job of giving myself good chances n on a lot of those holes. When I was out of position I tried to give myself par putts and missed a couple on the back nine, but I feel like this back side's pretty tough, you can have some easy holes, but you get faced, right when you have a couple easy holes and feels like it's going your way, it can kind of smack you real quick. So you just got to stay focused and just try to hit good shots. I feel like I've had a lot of fun so far. I had a good pairing today with Zac Blair, we goofed off a lot and had a ton of fun. So just trying to have fun again tomorrow and hopefully see where the cards stack up.

Q. When did you feel like you had a, would have a chance, that you were like in the mix, like in contention here?

BEN GRIFFIN: Well I didn't realize Ryan Fox had come back. I saw he was at 13 so I was like, well, he's kind of playing really well, and he still had a ton of holes left, I was like, I just got to keep making birdies to try to keep my name up there and have a chance. So obviously he's come back a little, looking at the leaderboard now, so, yeah, all I can do is just try to make birdies and focus on myself. I missed a short eagle putt on 17, but it's all good, I'll have plenty of chances tomorrow to make up for some of those missed shots.

Q. You mentioned you've you're having an eye surgery or procedure on Tuesday?

BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, I got to get laser work. I've got four retina holes in my left eye and one in my right eye. Which, basically a retina hole is just my retina is kind of -- I have lattice degeneration, which is just like a thinning retina, so I got holes connecting my retina to my eye, so if I don't repair them I'm at risk of retina detachment, so I've got to go get those filled to try to keep that issue so I don't have to think about that too much.

Q. When you did realize that was something you needed to do?

BEN GRIFFIN: I had -- I found out I had lattice degeneration last year and when you have that it's just really because -- I'm nearsighted, so my vision's not very good. I wear contacts and my vision is 20/20 with contacts in, but my eye's basically, instead of it being a perfect circle, it's more of an oval and so it's stretched out. So the retina that attaches is kind of being stretched as well as the eye gets smaller. So I found out I had that, and because I have lattice degeneration I'm at risk of getting retina holes and at risk of retinal detachment, so I got to just stay on top of it and get fixes from time to time. So I might be blind on like Wednesday, I've never done it before so. I'll probably have like a 24-hour or 48-hour recovery or something like that and then be back at it, hopefully at the U.S. Open.

Q. Are you doing a U.S. Open qualifier?

BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, on Monday up here in Canada. So not too far, easy drive.

Q. Are the sunglasses prescription?

BEN GRIFFIN: No, sunglasses are solely just to make it darker and, honestly, it helps with the floaters because the floaters are dark, and so when it's really bright they're way more defined, especially on a golf course where there's not much shade. So, when I have the sunglasses on I don't see 'em quite as much. That's really the only benefit to him. I think sunglasses might help with eye health overall, I haven't really looked too much into it, but I just started wearing them on my fourth or fifth hole the first round. I was kind of going back and forth wearing them in between shots, and I was like, let's just try to hit a shot with 'em on, and just kind of rolled with it. They're literally sunglasses that I just found in my house that I bought maybe a year ago, no significance to golf or anything. So, any sunglasses sponsors out there, I'm available (laughing).

Q. When you did realize your parents were here?

BEN GRIFFIN: Right before I teed off. I was rolling some putts and of course my dad showed up, I could hear his voice from a mile away, southern accent, so, yeah, he surprises me from time to time and just pops in. So, but he doesn't watch me play golf. My mom might watch a couple holes, my dad's probably sitting at a bar somewhere having a good time. But, which, there's bars at home, but I guess he has more fun when he's close to where I am.

Q. I wanted to ask you about the ball switch a couple weeks back. Are you liking it?

BEN GRIFFIN: It's been awesome. I've been loving the ball. I gained some distance with it, which is, obviously, very important in this day and age with golf. I feel like there's a lot of bombers out there and the bombers are winning more often. So I gained some distance, which I loved, and saw a ton of consistency. The ball's been awesome and I played really well with it so far when I've used it this year, and I can't wait to continue to use it.

Q. What's it mean just having a chance tomorrow and knowing that you're going to be in the mix to chase your first title?

BEN GRIFFIN: It's what we dream of as kids, trying to come down the stretch in a TOUR event and get it done. I've been close a couple times in my career so far -- I like to say short career, it's only been a couple years, and I've talked to some veterans that have tried to motivate me to stay positive and the win's going to come. So, it just feels good to be in the mix. It's going to be a fun day tomorrow. I love the golf course, Hamilton, it's a great venue, and a ton of fun fans out there that are all hyping us up, even the non-Canadians, so yeah, just game feels good.

Q. Which of those long putts that you made was the most unexpected and what did it do for your confidence?

BEN GRIFFIN: 15 was the most unexpected. I hit a poor wedge shot. I feel like the greens are actually starting to bake out in spots and we're seeing it run out more than we did the first couple days. Tomorrow with the rain who knows if it will still bounce. I was a little protective, I feel like I had hit my lob wedge a little too far on a couple holes, and I tried to not hit it as long because I didn't want to go long of that pin, left myself 50 feet and ultimately it went in, which was a shock, but kind of hyped me back up on 16 and 17 to keep pushing and keep the pedal down. But, yeah, it's always nice when you can see those long ones go in, that just boosts your confidence and makes you feel really good.