“
I didn’t try to
reinvent the wheel,
I didn’t try to
change my golf
swing. I knew what
I was doing was
good enough and
that I just needed
to be patient.”
I knew how much I loved baseball and
soccer and I remember all the other kids
having the best equipment and staying
at nice hotels, and me shopping at Play It
Again Sports,” added Griffin.
Griffin, whose father Michael passed
away when he was 12 years old, said it’s
sweet thinking about “Dad going nuts in
heaven, and that’s the exciting part.
“Obviously, I want to take care of my
family and all of that, but I want to get to
the point where I could start helping just
the community and help people ... just give
people hope, that’s what people need.
“That’s what Steve Prater did for me,”
said of his longtime golf instructor, who
is now the director of the golf academy
at Roanoke Country Club. “Steve gave
me hope, he gave me a reason to keep
fighting. At 12 years old it’s hard to lose
your dad, and Steve taught me a lot on
giving back. I’m never going to be a Steve
Prater ... there’s no way that I could ever
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match what he’s done, but I’m going to try
my hardest.”
Griffin’s triumph continued his impres-
sive early season run on the PGA Tour’s
2019-20 wraparound schedule. The win
in Houston pushed him near the top of the
early-season FedEx Cup standings. (He
was No. 2 as of Nov. 18). He has posted five
top-25 finishes out of the gate and banked
$1,867,362.
LESSONS LEARNED
Griffin has shown pretty stout work for
a guy who didn’t perform well in his first
stint on the PGA Tour and had to earn his
way back to the game’s major league in the
minor leagues.
“In my first stint on the Korn Ferry
Tour I was nervous and I wasn’t ready,”
Griffin conceded. “I wasn’t comfortable
... whenever I made a cut, I finished in the
bottom of the pack and then the Nashville
(win) happened (in 2017). After I won
vsga.org
IMAGES;
ATHLETICS)
Lanto Griffin’s girlfriend Maya Brown,
an attorney in Charlotte, made the trip
to Houston to provide support. At left,
Griffin during his days at VCU.