Q. One quick and turn it over to you. Fantastic final round; 9-under 62 to get the job done. You've been asked a couple times so far, what does a round like this do for you mental especially as you plan to head to the Scottish?
BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, just tons of confidence. Literally seeing the ball go in from pretty much everywhere on the green helps. Hitting my lines off the tee and when your whole game is kind of really solid, it just builds confidence in you. I am so excited to get across the pond and continue this play.
Q. You were just asked about Davis and you kind of chuckled and literally you -- tell us that story again.
BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, five steps outside my master bedroom is literally his probably back porch. We're literally next door neighbors in St. Simons. I know some of the neighborhood has been pulling for us and probably. Pretty cool for them.
Yeah, he's been playing so awesome and trending in the last few weeks so you could kind of see it coming in my opinion. It was only a matter of time for a guy of his caliber to seal the deal. I don't know how much of a lead he has but I am sure he's built enough to where he can cruise in.
We'll see what happens, but pulling for him.
Q. You were flirting with 59, 60 at some point in this tournament.
BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah.
Q. Was that entering into your head as the round got going?
BEN GRIFFIN: I know I was really low. I didn't know specifically how much under said I was. I was just -- I kept plugging along. I actually caught myself trying to do the math on I think 15 or 16. I was like, screw it, let's just keep trying to fire at pins and make birdies.
Yeah, 17 was a bummer. That tee shot has been giving me some struggles this week. I'm excited to come back next year and really dial it in in practice rounds. I hit driver the first round, hit it right. Then I hit 3-woods and the 3-woods were good, but I felt like I was so far behind I felt like I needed to hit driver and push it up there and try to make eagle.
Unfortunately it was a bad swing. Wish I had it back. Maybe hit a 3-wood. Who knows? It is what it is. It was a great round. Yeah, all I was trying to do is keep making birdies and push. Yeah, onto the next.
Q. Waking up seven back, did you have a number in mind if I shoot this I have a chance? Davis said, no, I got to take care of this, but...
BEN GRIFFIN: 54. It was crazy. It's funny, walking off the 13th green -- excuse me, yeah, 13th green talking to Keith Mitchell and I was like, man -- hold on. Let's take the story back.
After four holes I was 4-under through 4 and maybe 5-under through 5 even. All right, well, if I shoot 54 I just need Davis Thompson to not shoot 59 or better and we might have a chance.
That was my mindset early in the round because I was making so many birdies. Yeah, coming down the stretch after 13 talking with Keith about just how much birdies Davis was making and it's a race for second at that point.
But pretty cool to see a guy make a condition ton of birdies. It's obviously out there. A lot of low scores. It's hard to do every single round and he seems to be doing it.
Q. I saw you smiling a couple times on the course; you're smiling now. How good do you feel coming off this performance?
BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, feel good. I wanted to be closer up towards the lead and I want to get in contention and seal the deal here soon.
When you're playing good golf and putting yourself in the mix, I'm just continuing to build more and more confidence, feeling very comfortable. And for me, I feel like it's only a matter of the time before I get the job done. Maybe even next week in Scotland.
Q. It was your first appearance here at the John Deere Classic.
BEN GRIFFIN: Yep.
Q. How would you rate your experience and where do you feel like this event could fit in the schedule going forward?
BEN GRIFFIN: I loved it. It's funny, I wanted to play last year. Coming off the Korn Ferry TOUR you're limited with your amount of starts. I was playing so well and getting in all the big events. I qualified for The Open and I had to take an off week somewhere or else I would have done 12 or 13 weeks in a row.
I was kind of bummed because I looked at the data on the golf course and I felt like this was a course that actually fit my game pretty well. I was excited to come here this year and give it a test. I almost thought about not playing again a few weeks ago and I was like, I've got to go play it. I think it's a great course for me. Just goes to show it actually was.
I feel like if I'm a little sharper the first couple rounds next year I'll be right there in the mix.
Q. Scotland and Northern Ireland will be a much different test of golf. What are some positives from this week that you can take going forward as you head into links golf?
BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, no, feel really good about my ball striking and putter is kind of coming along. Last week in Detroit I was struggling a little with my putter. I actually made a putter switch for a week. I've done that a couple times in my career, and the week after I make a putter switch I always play really well.
I've got to figure out how to make that work, whether I need to putt with a mallet for the first couples days in the practice rounds and then go back to my blade for the tournament. Yeah, switched putters last week and then switched back to my old trusty this week.
Yeah, it was a good week all around with ball striking. Just building confidence. Doesn't matter what type of golf you're playing, what type of course. Doesn't matter if it's going to be harder or easier. You're still feeling good about your game.
Just got to battle the elements over there, see what it brings me, hopefully I get a good draw and wave and play well.
Q. I noticed the sunglasses were back today.
BEN GRIFFIN: Oh, yeah.
Q. Resolution for the eye situation?
BEN GRIFFIN: They're never leaving I don't think. I enjoy them. It helps me a little bit with what I'm dealing with, so I love it and seems to be working.
Q. You did have the procedure yet?
BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, but it was just the procedure was just to avoid retinal detachment, because I had five retinal so holes in both eyes. I see floaters still but they're not terrible.
But the surgery was just prevent my retina from detaching so I can see. You, the floaters can stay.
Q. Have you played much with Davis?
BEN GRIFFIN: At home we play every once in a while. It's hard with the PGA TOUR schedule. Feel like we're not home much and hard to sync up. We have played a fair share of golf together. We're next door neighbors, members of the same course. We play a practice round from time to time or tournament rounds.
Q. What have you seen his game is different or better?
BEN GRIFFIN: He's just solid. Hits it long and hits it straight. He does everything you can expect of an elite golfer.
Him coming off the Korn Ferry TOUR he's a younger guy. We graduated the same year and he's just continued to progress. He had a great week last year at the Amex battling out with Jon Rahm. Builds a lot of confidence.
He's just a solid player. I knew both of us, one ever us was going to get a win sooner than later. Looks like he's going to get two done. Great guy. He's even keeled and he's not going to talk a lot. He is just going to go about his business and he is not afraid to make a lot of birdies as we can tell.
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