With ‘Back Against the Wall,’ Lanto Griffin Wins Q-School to Return to PGA Tour

Six players earned PGA Tour cards for 2025 while one missed in heartbreaking fashion.

Lanto Griffin, pictured at the 2023 John Deere Classic, is heading back to the PGA Tour. / Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Lanto Griffin was ticked off. 

Wednesday night before the start of PGA Tour Q-School’s final stage, the 36-year-old Californian got an email saying he didn’t have any guaranteed starts on the Korn Ferry Tour next season. With one last chance to earn Tour status for 2025, he played with a chip on his shoulder. 

“When your back's against the wall you kind of just have to—you don’t have a choice,” he said. 

The extra motivation served him well. Griffin earned medalist honors with a final-round 63 on the Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass. He was one of six players to earn full Tour status for next year. 

He's coming off a turbulent few years. After winning the 2019 Houston Open, he endured several injuries. A ruptured disc in his lower back in July 2022 shut him down for the rest of that year. He returned in January 2023 but admits he rushed back from injury. In the last two years, he has only one top-10 finish.

“I came back probably six months too early,” he said. “I didn't know it at the time, I thought I was healthy and I wasn’t. So this is kind of a fresh start for me.”

Joining Griffin in claiming their Tour cards for next season were Hayden Buckley, former world No. 1 amateur Takumi Kanaya, Alejandro Tosti, Will Chandler and Matthew Riedel. 

Then there’s the flip side. Alastair Docherty was tied for the lead going into Sunday, but a final-round 73 kept him from earning his card by one stroke. The 30-year-old also missed out on Tour status earlier this year by a shot at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. 

However, Docherty, along with many players who finished outside the top 6, will have Korn Ferry Tour status next year. 

“I have that backup plan, but that's not why I'm here, right?” Docherty said after Round 2. 

But for those who may be discouraged by their Q-School result, there’s still a chance to play their way to the PGA Tour—just ask Griffin. 

“We grind so hard so many years,” Griffin said. “And the last couple just injuries and body feeling different, you’re not sure if you’re ever going to be able to do it again, get back to that level. You see these young kids hit it so far and they’re healthy and they’re single, they don't have families. I want to experience this with my family now with my baby and it’s—you just don't want it to end. 

“It’s like being at a really good concert, you just want there to be a couple more songs and that’s kind of what I felt this week.”