Yahoo Sports PGA Tour vet Lanto Griffin knows the stakes at Q-School
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Lanto Griffin knows what is at stake this week at PGA Tour Q-School.
“With the changes next year to the Tour,” Griffin said of the reduction in exempt Tour cards from 125 down to 100, “it’s going to be the hardest year to keep your card.”
Only the top five and ties will earn a card this week, with a field of 170 competing at Dye’s Valley at TPC Sawgrass and Sawgrass Country Club. On Friday, Griffin played at Sawgrass CC on a gusty day, and not a single player managed to break par. Griffin settled for 2-over 72, which left him at 1-under 139 and T-5 at the midway point. How hard were the conditions out there?
“Brutal,” he said. “We played wind in Vegas, in Cabo, in Bermuda, and RSM this fall and this was tougher than all of them. You take the wind away and I bet 18 under would be leading.”
Griffin finished 171st on the FedEx Cup points list, sending him back to Q-School, just a 15-minute ride from home. He still can remember the excitement he felt when he reached the final stage for the first time in 2015.
“I was so excited just being able to get free shirts,” he said.
He’s a different person now – after back surgery, getting married, becoming a father for the first time six weeks ago, and having played five years in a row on Tour. “I’m in a different spot in my life and I still want it just as bad,” he said. “There are so many guys at different stages in their career here. Some are so stoked to be here and others are wishing they weren’t here. I’m still super-hungry. It’s not so much the money I’m chasing as it’s good golf. When you’ve had some success and you have surgery and your game isn’t where it was before, that’s the most frustrating part.”
The grind and the fight were there all year as he played well enough this season to make 18 of 22 cuts, but his putter – usually the strength of his game – let him down. He figured out that his body was open and closed his shoulders, and his confidence is on the rise.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if I finished top five and played real well next year,” he said.
As a past champion, Griffin will have some status to fall back on but he’s not counting on it. Given the changes to the Tour beginning in 2026, he said the Korn Ferry Tour may actually be the better way to go.
“I don’t see guys taking time off because there is so much at stake, so, I’m not expecting I’ll get any starts as a past champion. I’ll probably get some but next year isn’t a bad year to get a card from Korn Ferry,” he said. “It’s not where you want to be but I’d rather be on the Korn Ferry next year and get my card versus being on the Tour with crappy status and finishing 115th. That’s what I’m telling myself to be positive and optimistic.”
With two rounds to go, he’s right on the cutline to regain a full-time card in the land of milk and honey.
“I’d love to have another shot at the Tour,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: PGA Tour vet Lanto Griffin knows the stakes at Q-School
