WM PHOENIX OPEN

February 6, 2026

Ben Griffin

TPC Scottsdale

Quick Quotes

Q. Ben, can you talk about that birdie on 18 just now?

BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, the wind was pretty favorable, a little bit of help, so I knew if I hit a good one I could swing pretty hard and get it pretty far down there.

It was nice to have I think 78 yards in for my second. As a TOUR player you expect to hit it pretty close from that distance, and it was nice to see a putt drop.

Q. Backtracking to earlier in your round you hit that bogey on 2.

BEN GRIFFIN: Uh-huh.

Q. What were you seeing on the eagle on that next hole?

BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, I knew after the bogey, I knew the second hole is probably one of the tougher Par-4s, especially today to that pin. It was unfortunate to make bogey there. I knew 3 was going to be a pretty gettable par-5, and was nice to hit the fairway. I had 5-iron in and gave myself a nice look to make an eagle.

It was nice to bounce back after the little bit of a slow start.

Q. Overall, I know you've been very open in the past about your mental health and being away from golf. Wondering from your perspective what the process is to make sure you're not internalizing the really rowdy crowd on 16?

BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, I think there is a fine line. You can to embrace it and get a lot of energy, but then you got to reset on 17, 18. I like to stay in my lane for the most part. 16 is a fun hole. I try to do my best on every hole, and 16, obviously there is a feeling of a little bit more pressure there, but really it's only -- the pressure os only what you kind of create.

So I try to just pretend like it's another par-3 and another practice shot. I try not to get too caught up in the energy and everything like that. It's a very fun hole and I wish the TOUR had more of them.

Q. If you had to pick one other spot on TOUR to have something very similar, what spot would you pick?

BEN GRIFFIN: A place that doesn't have a TOUR event right now, Nashville comes to mind. It's country themed, so you could do something like this but more country themed. That would be pretty cool. Big city.

Yeah, there is a lot of really good events on TOUR. You could compare this one to The PLAYERS maybe a little bit with 17 having a crazy par-3 where so many people are all around.

I don't know, nothing is probably ever going to compare to the Waste Management 16th hole. It's a legendary hole.

Q. I know you have a limited history here. What do you think your last two appearances at TPC Scottsdale have taught you about moving on if you have a bad shot and not internalizing that into your play?

BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, I've handled 16 well. Every year I played here I feel like I've had a good look for a birdie chance.

I just try to continue to do that. It's nice to have played here a bunch of times in the past. I think your rookie year it can be a lot to handle because you're coming off the Korn Ferry Tour where there is not that many fans. This is only the fourth event of the year typically, and it can be a lot of the pressure your first year.

It's nice that I played a few times in the past so I can build off that.

Q. Just backtrack one more time. Whenever you're taking the walk from -- you get off the green at 15, you know what's coming next.

BEN GRIFFIN: Yep.

Q. What's kind of your mindset as you're about to just embrace...

BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, I'm just excited. It's pretty cool. I like to actually look around a little bit and realize how cool of a spot I'm in as a PGA TOUR player. A lot of people would do a lot of things to be in my shoes, so it's pretty cool to be able to walk through that tunnel and have your name shouted out and try to make a hole-in-one for the fans. That is the goal every time I get on that tee box.

Q. In general can you talk about your start to 2026?

BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, it's been okay. My swing wasn't exactly where I wanted it for the first couple events. Feel like I got it in a little bit better spot. I still need to fine tune it a little bit. Two top 25s to start the year is never a terrible thing, especially after an off season and a really career year last year for myself.

Historically I've struggled on the West Coast Swing if you look at my past results. I'm definitely probably doing even better than I have in years past. I am just trying to continue to learn from every event, continue to try my best.

And yeah, it's been all right. There is a lot of room for growth.

Q. How are you taking your 2025 and building off that momentum? You had such a great year last year.

BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, it was an amazing year. Try not to reset. Like try to continue what I was doing. Yeah, I learned a lot. You know, got my swing into a really good place physically. Mentally was in a really good place coming off my first win, and then won again and won again this fall.

Continuing to gain that experience is invaluable. Just trying to continue to just play my best and get in the mix as much as I can moving forward.

I've got a long way to go this week, but there is still a chance. Just need to put two more good rounds together.

Q. Going back to the environment, how would you say it brings out your personality on the course?

BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, it probably doesn't bring out my personality that much. I probably could let it. I just try to stay pretty level and try not to get too rowdy because that can get my heart rate going. I want to just stay level and continue the same feelings that I had throughout the round.

There is a roar there, so hopefully someone 6hit one close. No, it's a really cool hole. It's always something you have to manage a little bit internally. Again, there is only pressure there if you create it.

Q. What's it like watching other players embrace that, too?

BEN GRIFFIN: It's fun. Joel Dahmen yesterday putting on the helmet and chipping in was really cool. It's fun and definitely brings out some personalities in some people. I just try to focus on my round and try to do what Scottie seems to do every week: just stay in his lane and try to just compete and post as low a score as possible.