What would Ben Griffin say is the best thing to happen to him this year?
Might it be the three PGA Tour wins, now that he captured the World Wide Technology Championship on Sunday? Or maybe being named to the Ryder Cup team? Or is it the nearly $12 million in earnings?
Well, Griffin would say none of those -- at least if he knows what's good for him.
You see, Griffin is also getting married next month.
Maybe "all of the above" would be the prudent answer?
It's safe to say that 2025 has been a life-altering year in more ways than one for Griffin, who closed with a 9-under 63 on Sunday at El Cardonal at Diamante in Los Cabos, Mexico, to rally for a two-stroke win over Sami Valimaki and Chad Ramey.
Our 2025 Champion and WWT ambassador: @bengriffingolf 🏆 pic.twitter.com/zcgDhTbzuA
— World Wide Technology Championship (@WWTChampionship) November 9, 2025
"It's amazing. I mean, he's so incredible," fiancee Dana Myeroff said while joining Griffin for a greenside interview on Golf Channel right after he won. "It's so fun to be along for the journey."
Indeed it must be.
Griffin became the third three-time winner on Tour this year, joining a couple of guys you may have heard of in Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. Of course, one of those wins was the Zurich Classic alongside Andrew Novak. But there was also the victory at the Charles Schwab, plus Griffin finished runner-up twice at the Memorial and Procore Championship, both in loaded fields, and totaled 12 top-10s.
He is now up to a career-high ninth in the world rankings.
"Yeah, it's just, it's been a breakthrough year," Griffin said, "and I knew, you know, selfishly I kind of had a feeling after getting the first win, I felt like I was going to win at least another soon after, and sure enough I did."
What's the key to Griffin's success? Well, just about everything.
He's ranked around the top 50 or better in every strokes-gained metric, including top-25 in SG: Approach, Tee-to-Green and Putting.
This was Griffin's 30th Tour start this year, a big number for anyone but especially a top player. Griffin didn't enter 2025 as a top player but a very good one on the rise. He was ranked 65th in the OWGR last Dec. 31.
But now that he's established among the game's elite, not to mention getting married, 30 starts in 2026 seems out of the question.
Or, maybe not?
"I'm going to show up next season ready to go, and I'm not going to get comfortable just winning three times out here," Griffin said. "I'm going to try to continue to work really hard and hopefully play even better. And sure enough I did win this week, but I felt like there's still a couple things I do want to work on this offseason with my game. Not necessarily changing much, but just getting a little bit better. So it will be fun this offseason to continue to work hard and hopefully continue to do exactly what I'm doing and put my name up against those guys."
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Sami Valimaki
Playing this season as a DP World Tour grad, Valimaki just locked up his PGA Tour card for 2026 the old fashioned way -- by playing well on the PGA Tour. The 27-year-old from Finland used Sunday's runner-up to jump from 103rd in the FedExCup Standings -- the top 100 get PGA Tour cards for next season -- to 76th. There's even a chance now he could crack the top 60 to get into the first two Signature Events of 2026. Valimake is entered in this week's Butterfield Bermuda Championship and then the season ends the week after that with The RSM Classic. Regardless, he will be back on the PGA Tour in 2026.
Chad Ramey
Ramey also secured his card for 2026 with the shared runner-up. But he was in a far more precarious position than Valimaki. The 33-year-old from Mississippi entered the week 123rd in points; he's now safely through at 89th. Ramey is also entered in the Bermuda field.
Garrick Higgo
The 54-hole leader didn't hang on, but his tie for fourth continued a spectacular fall season. Higgo had already finished T7-2-T4 to zoom into the top 60 in points, ensuring he will be at the Signature Events at Pebble Beach and Riviera early next year. Now at No. 52 in points, Higgo could rise only one more spot the top 50 have been locked since the BMW Championship in August. Of course, Higgo already had his card for 2026 -- and 2027 -- after winning the Puerto Rico Open back in April.
Trevor Cone
The 32-year-old North Carolinian also tied for fourth -- his first top-10 of the season and only second top-25. It's been a down year for Cone, who entered the week ranked 179th in points. He's now up to 156th and surely will spend the next two weeks trying to get conditional status inside the top 150.
Patrick Rodgers
Still looking for his first Tour win after all these years, the 33-year-old Rodgers added a tie for sixth onto a pretty good season. This was his eighth top-25, though just second top-10, and he now sits 63rd in points. Rodgers is also in the Bermuda field to try to crack the top 60 in points by year's end.
Carson Young
The second-best C. Young on the PGA Tour doesn't play well in many places. But El Cardonal surely is one of them. He's now finished top-10 all three years since the tournament moved there, including runner-up last year. Young still has work to do, though, as he's only up to 124th in points now.
Nick Dunlap
Still only 21, it's been a brutal year for last year's surprise Amex winner, a victory that triggered his exit from the University of Alabama and entry onto the PGA Tour. Dunlap opened this week with an 11-under 61. All it got him was a tie for eighth. But with just one other top-10 all year and three top-25s, it's a pretty big deal for someone surely who hasn't had many big deals in 2025.
Matti Schmid
Schmid also tied for eighth to move from 70th in points to 66th. He will be in the Bermuda field this week.
J.J. Spaun
The other Ryder Cupper in the Mexico field besides Griffin, Spaun tied for 11th and now might be done for the year.
Matt Kuchar
The 47-year-old who still doesn't have his card for next season tied for 11th. That moved him from 121st in points to 112th. Kuchar will be in Bermuda later this week to continue to try to crack the top 100. But unlike all the other guys we've mentioned, Kuchar has a couple of wild cards up his sleeve – two career-money exemptions. At 15th all-time in PGA Tour earnings, he could use his top-25 exemption to play in 2026 and, if need be, then his top-50 exemption next season. That would take him within about six months of becoming Champions Tour eligible.
Michael Brennan
The surprise winner in Utah two weeks ago tied for 59th. No matter, he's set for next season and beyond thanks to that huge win.
Joel Dahmen
Ever since his appearance on Netflix's "Full Swing," Dahmen has been a fan favorite. But you still have to perform. He tied for 40th to fall from 109th to 11th in points, giving him only two more shots to crack the top 100 to keep full playing privileges.
Luke Clanton
Clanton, who burst upon the scene while still an amateur at Florida State last year, has struggled since turning pro earlier this year. He tied for 46th at the WWT. In 16 starts, he has only two top-25s, no top-10s and missed five cuts. He will have his card for 2026, however, by virtue of leading the 2025 PGA Tour University standings.
Alejandro Madariaga
This was the 25-year-old's PGA Tour debut and he not only made the cut in tying for 46th, he finished as the low Mexican in the field. Madariaga has been playing on the Mexico tour and will now climb into the top 1,000 of the OWGR.
The low Mexican in the field 👏🇲🇽 Great playing this week @ale__madariaga pic.twitter.com/5ytSM6Mwj7
— World Wide Technology Championship (@WWTChampionship) November 9, 2025
MISSED CUTS
Wyndham Clark, Johnny Keefer, Nick Taylor, Kevin Yu, Luke Donald. The biggest surprise here is not Clark, who has struggled all season and surely was hoping to find something before year's end, but Keefer. The star of the Korn Ferry Tour who will graduate to the big tour next year sits just outside the top 50 in the world rankings. As for Clark, he fell out of the top 60 in FedExCup Points to 61st, and it remains to be seen whether he will tee it up again in 2025 to try to get back in. He is not in the Bermuda field.
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