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Lanto Griffin proudly held the trophy after his win on the PGA TOUR at the Houston Open in 2019, grateful for being introduced to the game of golf at age 12. Now 36, the Virginia Commonwealth University alum is starting his seventh season with the tour with that win under his belt and hoping for more on the horizon.

Getting to this point in his career has taken grit and determination, along with the kindness of others. From 2010, the year he graduated from VCU and turned pro, through 2017, he lived at home during the summer and traveled frequently like most aspiring golfers, sharing hotels and staying with friends.

“I definitely paid my dues,” said Griffin, who lives in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, with his wife, Maya, and daughter, Navy.

At one point, Griffin ran out of money, and his community in Blacksburg and friends of VCU Athletics came to his aid by becoming supporters.

“There are a lot of good people in Virginia that helped me get to where I am,” he said. “They helped me keep my dream alive.”

Most professional golfers don’t make it to the PGA TOUR, but Griffin persevered and made the cut. In 2017, he won in Nashville on the Web.com Tour (a developmental tour that is akin to minor-league baseball). This helped him qualify to play as a rookie on the PGA TOUR in 2018. The next year, he won the Houston Open to solidify his tour status.

Last year, Griffin won the pressure-packed PGA Tour Q-School to secure his status on the top tour for 2025. Over his career, he’s faced health challenges and personal triumphs. He had back surgery for a ruptured disc in 2022 and married Maya, his longtime girlfriend, a month later. In 2024, the couple welcomed Navy.

Having surgery, marrying Maya and becoming a dad provided him with an invaluable change in perspective.

“Golf isn’t the only thing that mattered anymore,” Griffin said. “It’s a blessing to have something else in my life to focus on.”

A solid golfer at an early age

Griffin, who calls Blacksburg home, came to Virginia with his family when he was 5. He was always athletic, playing everything from soccer to baseball, his favorite sport at the time. He didn’t consider golf until his family moved to a new house within walking distance of the city golf course. He picked up a club when he was 10, and two years later, he transitioned from baseball to golf.

“I was always the best baseball player on my team,” Griffin said. “When I hit 11 or 12, I started playing with older kids [who were bigger and taller], and then I wasn’t the best on the team. That took the joy out of the game for me.”

Golf was appealing because it was an individual sport, one that Griffin could play whenever he had the time. His father looked into getting him a lesson with the golf pro at Blacksburg Country Club, but a membership to the club didn’t fit the family’s finances. Then, his father died when Griffin was 12, apparently putting it even further out of reach.         

“When my dad died, the pro, Steve Prater, gave me a membership to the club. It was the coolest, nicest place I had ever seen,” said Griffin, who started the Lanto Griffin Foundation in 2021 to assist families in the Roanoke and New River Valley area in financial need as they battle devastating or terminal illnesses. “It was like a lightbulb went off.”

“Lanto was definitely in a situation,” said Prater, who snuck Griffin into some clinics and still occasionally helps him with his game. “At that point I could see the competitiveness. He wanted to win.”

Griffin competed in the junior golf program at the club. “That’s where it all started,” Prater said. “It was a great group for him to be around, and he succeeded.”

Griffin started playing local tournaments, and by the end of high school, he was participating in state events.

He hoped to play at Virginia Tech after high school, but the golf coach did not have a spot on the team for an incoming freshman. Fortunately, VCU offered him a four-year scholarship.

“I took the scholarship,” Griffin said, noting that VCU was not on his radar at the time. “I was eternally grateful to VCU and coach Matt Ball [who retired in 2021]. VCU gave me an opportunity, and that was special at the time.”

Being snubbed by Virginia Tech put a chip on Griffin’s shoulder that he was able to knock off during his freshman year at VCU.

“We beat the Virginia Tech team. VCU giving me the opportunity motivated me. I wanted to prove to them that their decision was right,” said Griffin, who majored in marketing in the School of Business.

He said he enjoyed the cultural diversity on the VCU golf team.

“As a freshman, I was the only American on the team. We had Swedish, Italian and Puerto Rican players,” Griffin said, highlighting the camaraderie of getting to and from matches. “We were crammed in my car with three golf bags, and we felt like sardines in a can. I look back on those times fondly.”

His teammates became lifelong friends who often invited him to visit them in Europe, specifically Italy and Sweden.

“That was really cool,” he said of traveling overseas. “VCU is so international.”

Griffin is also grateful to VCU teammate Mark Jargren for introducing him to the importance of working out regularly.

“That was a huge asset to me,” he said. “I fell in love with working out and getting stronger.”

Griffin considered himself a good player during his freshman and sophomore years but believes he came into his own during his junior year in 2009, when he was voted Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Golfer of the Year. That year, he led the Rams to their first CAA men’s golf championship title since 2002.  

“That was a huge accomplishment for me. That’s when I thought that I could play professional golf,” he said.

Starting the season on a positive note

This year on the PGA TOUR, Griffin is pleased with his performance so far – a highlight was finishing tied for ninth at the Farmers Insurance Open in California in January – but recognizes the “on any given day” randomness of sports.         

“It was a good start, but I have a lot of work to do,” he said. “There is still a lot of golf left in the PGA TOUR season.”

Griffin admits he has a love/hate relationship with golf, a sport that’s been on his mind for 25 consecutive years.

“It’s the hardest game. There are so many things that can go wrong,” he said, noting the mental aspect of the game. “You can overthink it more than other sports. It’s a unique sport in that you are chasing perfection that can never be obtained.”

It’s also a humbling game, he added. “You are always thinking about what you can do better. It’s an addiction.”

Last summer, Griffin feared he might lose his PGA TOUR card, and that assumption, coupled with his responsibilities as a husband and new father, led to an anxiety attack.

“It all came crashing down,” he said. “I am grateful for the panic attack. It has helped everything. I hired a sports psychologist, and he has helped me a ton.”

When Griffin started playing professional golf, he was driven by the fact that he never wanted what he calls “a normal job.”

“I sacrificed a lot, and looking back, the sacrifices have paid off. I am very proud of that aspect and very grateful that I was able to succeed and make it,” he said. 

In the last few years, the investment in professional golf by Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund has led to a split in the professional game with the launch of the LIV golf tour. The new tour lured a number of big-name players, which prompted numerous changes in how the PGA TOUR is structured and funded. One result has been different qualifications and requirements for PGA TOUR events and membership, making it increasingly difficult for players to keep their tour cards.

Last year, Griffin agreed to serve on the Player Advisory Council because of the changes in the world of golf that cause him concern. Once Griffin started participating in the meetings, he quickly realized “there is nothing you can do,” he said. “It’s incredibly frustrating. It’s hurt the game of golf and the PGA TOUR.”

This season, he is concentrating on playing his best golf and finishing in the top 100.

“I’m focused on maintaining momentum on the PGA TOUR and securing my card this season,” he said.

Earning his first PGA TOUR win at the Houston Open remains a career highlight many golfers would envy, and it’s a feat his 12-year-old self couldn’t have imagined when he was just starting to take lessons in Blacksburg. Achieving a lifelong dream of winning on the PGA TOUR is a memory that he will cherish forever – and one he hopes to build on this season and beyond.