Ben Griffin wants ‘elite golf’ to beat Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm at Ryder Cup

Several Ryder Cup hopefuls tee up this week for the Wyndham Championship, including Ben Griffin. The 29-year-old, who currently sits above American captain Keegan Bradley in the US Team player rankings at ninth, has eyes set on making the final squad for Bethpage. The golfer on Tuesday revealed that he is looking forward to ‘playing really elite golf’ to beat European rivals like Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, and Tyrrell Hatton at the big event stage.

For the unversed, Griffin is paired alongside fellow Ryder Cup hopefuls Bradley and Andrew Novak. The North Carolina native will tee it up at Sedgefield Country Club on Thursday with the US Team qualification in mind. Enjoying a breakout campaign, winning the team event Zurich Classic with Novak in April, and celebrating victory at the Charles Schwab Challenge, the No. 7 FedEx Cup standings ranked player is among the favorites to have a big outing this weekend.

Dubbing the possible qualification a ‘tremendous honor,’ the 2-time PGA Tour winner reiterated that he is focused on his game to make the Bethpage Black squad. Speaking about the Ryder Cup, Ben Griffin said,

“I feel like it's mentioned every single day so like it’s always on my mind whether I want it to be or not… The more I kind of look at rankings or whatever, it's not going to help me. The only thing that can help me is playing extremely good golf against the best players in the world every single week and if I can do that, it's going to take care of itself… You want to represent your country, it's just a tremendous honor…

I've got to continue to do the right things right now and build this next month and a half stretch leading into Bethpage to where I'm playing really elite golf and I can beat Rory McIlroy and I can beat Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. Like I want to have that mindset when I get there and I don't want to just sit here on a boat and just relax, I think cruise into Bethpage. I've got to keep the pedal down without a doubt.”

Ben Griffin admitted being “excited for the challenge” at the team competition. However, he added that a possible qualification is not in his hands, and ‘challenging himself to try to make birdies on the hardest holes’ is the best he could do to ensure his place on the squad.

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Ben Griffin’s 2025 season so far

Ben Griffin has had a rollercoaster season on the PGA Tour so far. The 29-year-old, who teed off 2025 with a T45 finish at the Sony Open in Hawaii, managed a solo win at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial in May. Apart from this, the ace golfer also bagged a runner-up finish at the Memorial and two T4 finishes at the Mexico Open and the Cognizant Classic.

Griffin has so far missed six cuts in 23 starts, including at the recent Open Championship at Royal Portrush. However, a T8 finish at the PGA Championship and T10 at the US Open have safeguarded his place on the FedEx Cup and Ryder Cup player standings. He has earned a total exceeding $6.8 million from the PGA Tour this year.

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Listed below is Ben Griffin’s 2025 season so far (including earnings):

• Sony Open in Hawaii: T45 – $24,382
• The American Express: T7 – $267,300
• Farmers Insurance Open – Missed Cut
• AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: T69 – $34,500
• WM Phoenix Open: T36 – $40,998
• The Genesis Invitational: T44 – $64,000
• Mexico Open at VidantaWorld: T4 – $315,000
• Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches: T4 – $414,000
• Arnold Palmer Invitational: T45 – $62,000
• THE PLAYERS Championship – Missed Cut
• Valspar Championship – Missed Cut
• Texas Children’s Houston Open: T18 – $108,986
• Valero Texas Open: T40 – $37,525
• THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson – Missed Cut
• Truist Championship: T46 – $53,600
• PGA Championship: T8 – $454,781
• Charles Schwab Challenge: 1 – $1,710,000
• the Memorial Tournament: 2 – $2,200,000
• U.S. Open: T10 – $486,031
• Travelers Championship: T14 – $360,000
• Rocket Classic: T13 – $172,000
• John Deere Classic – Missed Cut
• The Open – Missed Cut

More details on Ben Griffin’s Ryder Cup qualification run will be updated as the event progresses.