Lanto Griffin, who was a lock to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs with his current standing of 65th, will instead be away from the PGA Tour for five to six months after having lower back surgery.
Griffin, 34, said that he underwent a microdiscetomy on his L5-S1 disc—which is just above the pelvis—that first was ruptured in May 2020 and then ruptured “much” worse in January of this year when he said he picked up his son in the middle of the night.
Griffin tied for third at The American Express in January, and in back-to- back starts in May, he managed a T-15 at the Mexico Open and T-6 in the Wells Fargo Championship. But he has since not had a finish in the top 50 and missed the last three cuts—the last coming at the John Deere in early July. He said he hasn’t been able to swing a club since then.
He reported that the surgery was successful. “It was like turning off a light switch, modern medicine is pretty amazing!” he wrote.
“Can’t wait til the day I can swing a club and put socks on without pain,” Griffin added.
The California native and Virginia Commonwealth alum scored his lone PGA Tour victory in the 2019 Houston Open and has two Korn Ferry Tour wins. This was his fourth full season on the big tour.