19th Hole

Ben Griffin reveals minimum sum needed to compete weekly on PGA Tour in financial deep dive

Published

6 months ago

Oct 4, 2023

Matt Vincenzi

PGA Tour player Ben Griffin recently took to TikTok to share what it’s like being a professional golfer.

In one of his latest videos, Griffin gives fans some insight as to the expenses involved in being a PGA Tour player.

In a recent sitdown with Griffin, I asked him about his activity on TikTok and why he decided to begin sharing on the platform.

Speaking to GolfWRX, here’s what he had to say:

“A lot of this year, with the help of my girlfriend Dana, we’ve kind of entered the TikTok space a little bit just because a lot of players haven’t. You see Min Woo Lee posting his swing videos, but we kind of use TikTok as an opportunity to show kind of an inside look at what it’s like to be a PGA Tour player.

“We did a lot of day-in-the-life videos throughout the summer and last spring, and a lot of people liked them. And I’ve kind of made it a mission for me to use TikTok as a way to give people just an inside look.”

“I had some friends ask me about what it’s like traveling on Tour, what the different experiences are, what’s given, what’s not, and I figured why not put it into a TikTok.”

The 27-year-old’s videos have gotten plenty of views, but none of them have gotten as many as the video where he breaks down the expenses of being on tour. Griffin wanted people to realize that being a professional isn’t all the glitz and glamour that it appears to be at times.

“This week is everyone flying together on a private jet going over to Rome and competing. And for some players, that’s kind of how it is on a week-to-week basis. Other players are kind of on their own and figuring things out. And I am obviously in a very privileged place to be able to play on the PGA Tour and have access to certain things. But I’m a business owner, and I’m trying to be as smart as I can with my money and try to save as much as I can, even though I can write off a whole lot of stuff being a golfer.

“I created the ‘player expenses’ kind of TikTok to showcase what my expenses are every week, whether it be how much I pay my caddie, how much hotels are, we go to some of the nicest places in the US primarily, and we’re at the peak seasons at each of these cities and destinations we go to.”

The former North Carolina Tar Heel concluded that most golfers are spending a minimum of $6,000 a week in order to compete on Tour. The expenses include paying caddies, tipping, hotels, airfare, and food.

“So, hotels are always expensive more than generally, and as a player, we kind of face that on our own. Now we get to play for a lot of money, and there’s a lot of really good times, but sometimes you might miss a few cuts and you kind of feel it in your pocket, so it really helps to, I’m very fortunate to have sponsors and people that believe in me and have supported me, and I’m in an awesome position financially to be able to afford some of these things, and I’m very blessed.

“But the reality is that guys on tour are spending at least five, $6,000 a week, and a lot of guys are a lot more. I’m pretty much, I don’t have a family. I don’t have kids or anything like that, so it cuts costs down for me a little bit, but other guys are having their physical therapists with them every week, and prices can kind of go up from there.”

“When players are fighting for their livelihood on a week-to-week basis, there’s undoubtedly a great deal of stress on the players who aren’t yet established financially. Griffin agreed that it can be “very stressful” and said that “when you’re struggling, you can kind of feel it a little bit.”

“I mean, it can be very stressful and, especially at the bottom level below the PGA Tour because the Korn Ferry Tour, it’s not like they’re going to super remote areas. They do sometimes, but they start off the year going to the Bahamas and other places.

“And on that Tour, you’ve got guys that literally have $0 in their bank account, and they’re trying to figure out how they can get to the Bahamas. And you mentioned it being a vacation. Yeah, you’re paying for your vacation, but you’re also paying for your caddie’s vacation, in a way.”

“A lot of the events that are on islands are more expensive. Players are generally giving their caddies more money to cover those expenses, so you’re paying for that and, on top of that, girlfriend, wife, family. So, it can get very expensive quick, but that’s the thing about the sport, it’s high reward, but also when you’re struggling, you can kind of feel it a little bit.”

Griffin has an incredibly unique story. He chose to step away from golf in 2021 to be a loan officer in North Carolina. Just a few years later, he qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs and finished 24th at the FedEx St. Jude.

“It was more different then. I was really at the bottom level. I mean, I wasn’t even on the Korn Ferry Tour. I had my card for a little bit in 2019, but 2020 was all mini-tour golf, and it started in 2021.

“I wasn’t having to pay for a caddie because at that level of golf when you’re below the Korn Ferry Tour, you don’t even pay for a caddie. You kind of carry your own clubs. At most tournaments, they don’t require you to, and they almost have to because if you had to have a caddie on the mini-tour level, it’d be impossible to cover expenses or make any sort of money.”

“So yeah, I’d say back when I was working, it was more just a little bit of burnout. There was definitely financial strain, and that comes from being at a minor league of professional golf being many tours, and you see it in other sports too…”

After a great rookie season on the PGA Tour, Griffin will be looking to build off of his success and capture his first PGA Tour win. He’ll be teeing it up in the fall series and is set to play at this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi: The 8 best prop bets for the 2024 Masters

Published

5 hours ago

Apr 9, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

We’ve finally reached The Masters and excitement is at an all-time high. The world of golf has been fractured for the better part of two years, but for a week at Augusta National, all of the outside noise will disappear. All of the best players in the world will be together seeking to make history.

RELATED: Vincenzi’s 2024 Masters betting preview: Niemann to play star role at Augusta National

In addition to betting on The Masters champion. This is one of the few weeks of the year where there are so many more markets to explore, with value to be had in plenty of different categories.

Throughout this article, I’ll discuss all of my favorite props and players for the 2024 Masters.

Placement Bets:

Tony Finau Top 5 +750 (DraftKings):

I badly wanted to include Tony Finau in my outright betting selections, but I simply ran out of room on my card. Additionally, it’s slightly difficult to see him hitting the putts necessary to win the Masters on back nine on Sunday. However, I do strongly believe he will play great golf this week at Augusta National.

In his past 24 rounds, Finau ranks 4th in Strokes Gained: Approach is always amongst the best drivers of the golf ball in the game. Back in 2019, Finau had a great chance to win The Masters. I expect him to be hanging around over the weekend once again in 2024.

Gary Woodland Top 20 +550 (DraftKings), Gary Woodland to make the cut -110 (DraftKings):

Last season, Gary Woodland had his best ever finish at The Masters in his eleven tries. The 39-year-old finished T14 and played incredibly steady across all four rounds.

In Woodland’s most recent start at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, he struck the ball incredibly well. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach (+8.8) and Strokes Gained: Ball Striking (+10.0).

Gary has been working with Butch Harmon and absolutely flushing the ball both in tournaments and during practice.

Woodland appears to be healthy once again and in a great place physically and mentally. If he can build off his impressive performance at Augusta last year, he can place inside the top ten in 2024.

Additionally, the make the cut number on Woodland seems generous considering the number of players who miss the cut will be relatively small this week. Woodland is striking it well enough to make the cut even if he’s hindered by a balky putter once again.

Thorbjorn Olesen Top 20 +400 (FanDuel):

The Thunder Bear, Thorbjorn Olesen, made his Masters debut in 2013 and finished an incredibly impressive T6 for the week. In the two additional starts he’s made at Augusta National since then, the Dane has continued to be incredibly solid, finishing T44 and T21.

This week, Olesen heads into the week playing some good golf. He gained 3.8 strokes on approach and 5.52 strokes around the green at last week’s Valero Texas Open on his way to a strong T14 finish. Back in January, he won the Ras Al Khaimah Championship on the DP World Tour.

Olesen has the skill set to be successful at Augusta and seems primed for a good performance this week.

Top Nationalities:

Sergio Garcia Top Spanish Player +280 (DraftKings):

I believe Sergio Garcia can get into contention this week with the way he’s striking the ball in addition to his good vibes with a refurbished version of the Scotty Cameron that he used at the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah.

I am slightly concerned about the emotional letdown he may face after losing in a playoff at LIV Miami, but I believe a veteran and former Masters champion should be able to regroup and focus on an event far more meaningful.

This is essentially a tournament head-to-head with Jon Rahm at +280. While Rahm deserves to be respected this week, the history of the lack of success of defending champions at The Masters is difficult to ignore.

Joaquin Niemann Top South American Player -230 (FanDuel):

While I hate paying this much juice, I don’t see a world in which Joaquin Niemann isn’t the top South American this week at The Masters. Joaco comes in playing better golf than anyone in the world not named Scottie Scheffler and has a serious chance to win the green jacket.

He only needs to beat two players: Emiliano Grillo and Camilo Villegas.

Tournament Head-to-Heads:

Justin Thomas -110 over Collin Morikawa

JT isn’t having his best season but is playing a lot better than he is getting credit for at the moment. In the past three months, there are only six players on the PGA Tour who have averaged 1.7 Strokes Gained: Tee to Green or better. Justin Thomas (+1.7) is one of the six and is currently tied with Rory McIlroy (+1.7).

Morikawa, on the other hand, has been extremely poor with his irons, which is incredibly uncharacteristic for him. I can’t help but feel like something is completely off with the two-time major champion.

Tony Finau -110 over Wyndham Clark

I explained in the placement section why I’m so high on Tony Finau this week. With how well he’s striking the ball, it seems as if his floor is extremely high. I’m not sure if he can make the putts to win a green jacket but I believe he will be in the mix similarly to 2019 when Tiger Woods emerged from a crowded pack of contenders.

Clark is a debutant, and while some debutants have had success at The Masters, it certainly poses a challenge. I also don’t believe Augusta National suits Clark as well as some of the other major championship venues.

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19th Hole

Nick Faldo reveals the worst Masters Champions Dinner he’s ever experienced

Published

8 hours ago

Apr 9, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

While speaking with talkSPORT.com, three-time Masters champion Nick Faldo reflected on one of his former Masters champions dinner choices.

“My fish and chips… That was my best one. It was very successful. Everybody loved that.” Faldo said.

“I flew in the fillets from Harry Ramsden’s with these big chips as well – and mushy peas. They took one look at it, because they’re fluorescent green, aren’t they?”

Despite Faldo’s satisfaction with his choice, he recalls some other players questioning the choice.

“They went, ‘What are these?’ I said, ‘Mushy peas’. They said, ‘Mushy what!?’ So that went down well.”

“I had Sarson’s Vinegar as well. So I deem that one of the top three, honestly.”

Faldo also mentioned which Masters dinner he thought was the worst he’s ever had.

“What was the worst one? Oh, it was Bubba, wasn’t it? When we had Chuck E. Cheese.”

Perhaps the most interesting part of what Sir Nick had to say was the fact that the dinners can get emotional.

“It can get it can get quite emotional,” the golf legend added. “Because some of the old boys are getting on, or you’ve lost somebody and reminisce some old stories and that sort of thing.

“We usually have a good laugh as well. Everybody ribs [each other], especially when Jack [Nicklaus] says, ‘Well, it was pretty easy in 1965’. Everybody nearly beat him up on that one, which was quite fun. ‘So because you won by 10 or whatever?”

This year’s Masters champions dinner will be hosted by Spaniard Jon Rahm on Tuesday night.

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19th Hole

Tiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you

Published

8 hours ago

Apr 9, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

According to Jamie Kennedy of Golf Digest, Tiger Woods arrived at Augusta National on Sunday to practice chipping and putting with his caddie and a handful of clubs. Kennedy zoomed in on the clubs to see what Tiger was practicing with.

Tiger walked the front nine of Augusta on Sunday with his caddie and Rob. No bag, just an handful of clubs to hit approaches, chips and putts.

Yes, of course I zoomed in to see what clubs.

Three wedges, a 9-iron, 8-iron, his Scotty putter… and a Wilson 8802 blade putter! pic.twitter.com/kM7LXjazDh

— Jamie Kennedy (@jamierkennedy) April 8, 2024

“Three wedges, a 9-iron, 8-iron, his Scotty putter… and a Wilson 8802 blade putter!” Kennedy noticed.

It’s certainly noteworthy that Tiger was experimenting with two putters, however it’s still more likely than not that Tiger will have the Scotty in the bag for Thursday’s opening round of The Masters.

Speaking to NBC Sports a few years ago, Tiger explained just why he chooses the Wilson gamer as his preferred putter for practice, saying:

“I really do practice with my 8802 probably the most because I like feeling that toe release and I like putting with my right hand. That’s basically my training aid, and then I went to a longer putter to get more reps in.”

Woods hasn’t teed it up much in 2024, but when he has, he’s putted poorly. At the Hero World Challenge, he lost 1.88 strokes on the green. Through less than two rounds at the Genesis, he lost almost a stroke putting.