Andrew Novak finally breaks through, teaming with Ben Griffin to win Zurich Classic

New York Times

28-04-2025

NEW ORLEANS — The glory of a journeyman never comes simply.
Andrew Novak couldn't get it in San Diego. He couldn't get it in San Antonio. He couldn't even get it last week in a playoff with Justin Thomas in Hilton Head. No, the hottest golfer you didn't know kept coming up so close and so short. So, of course, as he took the lead in at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans with teammate Ben Griffin, a generator issue cut coverage for more than an hour. Then a weather delay halted play for another two hours. His breakthrough was not meant to be seen.
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But he finally got that win, and it came with a little help from his friend.
Novak and Griffin won the Zurich Classic — the PGA Tour's lone team event — thanks to a 35-foot birdie putt by Griffin on the 17th hole to pull away from a congested leaderboard. Suddenly, two grind-it-out golfers who've played on tours throughout the world can say they are PGA Tour champions.
And it comes for two players who were overdue.
Novak has quietly become the best and toughest story on tour. He's a bearded, husky 30-year-old journeyman who has scrapped for years between the Canadian tour and the Korn Ferry ranks. He's never made it to the FedEx Cup playoffs. But in 2025, he's been the breakout star. He finished two shots back of the lead at the Farmers Insurance Open.
He got T13 at consecutive signature events in Pebble Beach and Torrey Pines. He was the last player in the field at the Arnold Palmer Invitational but put himself in one of the final Sunday groups. Then, with a Masters berth in play, he just missed out with a T3 at the Valero Texas Open. And last week at another signature event in Hilton Head, he lost a heartbreaking playoff to Thomas.
Head down, hair sweaty, Novak signed autographs after the best and worst moment of his golf career up to that point in Hilton Head. He'd just earned his best finish in a big-money tour event, making $2.2 million. But once again, he was so close.
A young autograph seeker politely told Novak that he bet on him.
'You bet on me?' Novak said. 'I hope it was top 5 and not to win.'
"You bet on me? I hope it was Top 5 and not to win." 😅
Standup guy even fresh off a playoff loss @AndrewNovakGolf pic.twitter.com/gtD4X2Oims
— Golfbet (@Golfbet) April 20, 2025
Because Andrew Novak gets it. Really gets it. He makes fun of himself on Twitter. He takes time for goofy interviews to debate course rankings with bloggers. In an era of professional golf catered more and more to the biggest stars, he represents a humble, likeable example of the meritocracy that can still exist on the PGA Tour.
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And at Zurich, he teamed up with his fellow North Carolina native Ben Griffin, somebody who took a day job as a mortgage loan officer just four years ago. He was too burnt out on mini-tours and the grind of golfing life without a payoff. Griffin plays golf with Novak back home in Sea Island, Georgia. And Griffin himself was due, a 28-year-old with 11 top 20s last year and two top-five finishes this spring.
When the weather delay hit, the duo had a three-shot lead with 11 holes to go. When they returned, Novak clearly didn't have the same feel. They bogeyed both 8 and 9 and quickly fell into a tie with Jake Knapp and Frankie Capan III that remained knotted up until the 17th hole, when Capan hit his tee shot into the water and Griffin hit that 35-foot birdie to reach 28-under. The Hojgaard twins, Nicolai and Rasmus, got to 27-under to put some pressure, but Novak and Griffin were able to easily par 18 and earn their first wins.
Now, both have their PGA Tour cards for the next two years, and Novak skyrockets up the FedEx Cup points rankings to No. 6. For a player that has never even made it to the first round of the playoffs, let alone finishing top 30 to make the Tour Championship, this could be a career-changing run.
Maybe Sunday in New Orleans, he'll find another fan who bet on him. This time it won.