FORT WORTH, Texas – Ben Griffin beat Matty Schmidt at the Colonial after winning his first individual PGA Tour a month after beating his team event, beating a tie with his co-leader on the first hall Sunday.
Griffin shot 71 over and finished 12 under 268 in the Charles Schwab Challenge. One shot in front of Schmidt ran the final round on a warm day with a gust of winds about 30 mph in Hogan’s alley.
Schmidt forced Griffin to make a 4-foot putt on the 72nd hole after a tip from the deep roughness behind the green entered the birdie. Griffin saved par from rough. Schmid Shot 72.
Griffin and Schmidt earned matching scores for each of the first three days at Schmidt, a 27-year-old German who won their first tour in their 79th start.
Schmidt surged forward early in the third round, taking a three-shot lead. Griffin had a five-shot edge after just five holes in the final round, and in the end Schmidt went inside the stroke with a two-shot swing at 16, returning two leads in the holes to play.
Scotty Scheffler, the world’s number one and hometown favourite who won the PGA Championship last week, failed to match Saturday’s 10-shot surge. The three major winners started six shots, but finished at 8 under with two birdies and a bogey at 69.
Schaeffler missed out on his first start to win three times in a row since Dustin Johnson eight years ago, finishing in the top three at the Colonial for the fourth straight year. He tied himself up to the fourth and shot one shot behind Bud Corey.
Ricky Fowler never threatened his co-leader. Both started slowly, ending hopes of decline at 7 in 11th place on par 5. Fowler scored 74 after being in the top 25 in the first half of 2024 and being ranked 127th.
Griffin, 29, worked with Andrew Novak, who finished at the Colonial at age 6 for his victory at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans last month. They left an opening for others, as Griffin did on Sunday.
Griffin and Schmidt took a four-shot lead in the final round, leaving both still 1-2 despite finishing on par that day. Schmidt had six bogeys and double bogeys, allowing him to go with six birdies, but Griffin had four bogeys after opening with me and birdies.
Tommy Fleetwood shot a 31 on the front nine, entered the competition, losing momentum with a bogey at 11, then scored one of the tournament’s highlights in the final stroke.
Fleetwood’s birdie putt stopped on the lips of 18 cups, and he waited almost 30 seconds, hoping that the Gust-like squeal would push the ball into the hole. Nature is mandatory.
Fleetwood shot 68 and tied Schaeffler with a top-10 finish in 41st place on the PGA Tour, the most among players who have not won since 1983.