Ben Griffin had a weird story to share about his horror start to the final round of the BMW Championship on Sunday, with the Ryder Cup hopeful believing he “overdosed” on an exercise supplement

Ben Griffin had a horror start to his final round at Caves Valley(Image: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

PGA Tour star Ben Griffin claimed he accidentally “overdosed” on creatine during his first hole of Sunday’s final round of the BMW Championship, blaming the bizarre episode on a nightmare start.

Griffin, who is a strong contender to be on the United States Ryder Cup team at Bethpage next month after two wins this season, was six-over-par through his first three holes at Caves Valley in Owings Mills, Maryland, dropping to four-over-par for the tournament.

The world No. 17 started with a triple bogey at the first hole after four-putting from inside five feet. A double followed at the second after he launched his tee shot out of bounds before carding a bogey at the third. Griffin would have been forgiven for wanting to smash his clubs, which is how Bob MacIntyre said he felt after a disastrous final round that gifted Scottie Scheffler.

To Griffin’s credit, he composed himself and bravely battled back, carding seven birdies without dropping a shot over the rest of his round to break par for the day and finish in a tie for 12th place at three-under.

The 29-year-old addressed reporters after his round, when he made the curious admission that he had accidentally taken too much creatine — a naturally occurring substance that many athletes take as a legal supplement to improve performance.

Griffin drank the supplement after hitting his opening tee shot, but he said the powder he used was from the bottom of the tub and it had become crusty.

He explained that the powder did not mix properly and he swallowed a large lump of the supplement. Griffin believed he took significantly more than the recommended dose, and he said the result on his briefly significant.

Ben Griffin 4 putt from 3 feet 🤮#FedExCup pic.twitter.com/ezxdMrfn8l

— Road Hole Golf (@RoadHoleGolf) August 17, 2025

“It’s kind of an interesting story,” Griffin told reporters when asked about his nightmare start. “So I take creatine as a supplement, and this morning I didn’t take it until I basically teed off on one.

“I was at the end of my batch. I had basically a snowball of creatine, so had been in my bucket for a month, and broke it up and put in any water bottle. I’m all good. I’ve taken it on the golf course before. It’s fine.

“I started taking it after my second shot, and I accidentally swallowed one of the big rocks in my water bottle. I’ve never overdosed on creatine before, but I think I did in the moment because I didn’t really drink any water after that. I basically just inhaled a snowball.

“So I started getting super shaky. I’ve never felt like that before, and I felt like I had tremors. I four-putted 1 and on 2 I like was freaking out and didn’t know what to do.

“Like I hit it so far out of bounds. Luckily, my caddie stepped in and made me chug a whole water, and I tried to calm down a little bit. I hit the other one in play, and then I was fine. I ended up making, whatever, a double on that hole and bogeyed the next hole.

“It was probably more just a little bit flustered. I was fine after the second shot on two. And then it was — I felt good so I went about my day and got it back to under par.

“But, yeah, pretty crazy story. I don’t think I’ll be taking too much creatine in the future. I will take it but not in the amount that I probably did on the golf course, which wasn’t probably a healthy amount.”

Griffin was frustrated that he blew his chance to automatically qualify for Keegan Bradley’s Ryder Cup team by making such a dismal start to his final round, but he was “proud” of how he responded.

“I did hit bad shots, but I was physically shaking like I’ve never felt before. And I don’t normally miss a lot of short putts. It was really a weird situation,” he added.

“I’m very proud of the way I bounced back. I told [my caddie] on five, ‘I’m going to get back to even par and got back to under par.’ Pretty cool. Pretty proud of myself. Excited to go to the Tour Championship.

“Unfortunately, I think I came up short on a Ryder Cup locked spot, one of the six. I knew I needed to shoot about eight-under. Basically did that on the last 15. You’ve got to do better on the first few. Lesson learned. Hopefully, play really well next week and leave the captain with no choice.”