GOLF: Ben Griffin, Andrew Novak have fond memories entering Zurich defense

Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak had the honor of experiencing a golf rarity at last year's Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

They each earned their first PGA Tour wins simultaneously in the team-based event.

Twelve months later, the pair reunites at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La. this week with fond memories of last year's one-stroke victory over Danish brothers Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard.

"In golf, you really don't get to do (win) much. Unless you're Scottie (Scheffler) or Rory (McIlroy) or one of those lucky freaks, you don't win that much," Novak said at the pair's Tuesday press conference. "I hadn't won since before COVID on the Korn Ferry Tour. So just the fact that I got to go lift a trophy and be a winner for that week was pretty special, because I had done multiple years of not doing that."

Novak, 31, and Griffin, 29, turned pro in 2017 and 2018, respectively. They credit their extensive friendship dating back to playing junior golf together as natives of the North Carolina Research Triangle with what makes their partnership work.

"We (have) just played a lot of golf together. We know each other's games really well," Griffin said of their chemistry. "It's not like we're just a random team that kind of comes about, and you kind of have expectations of the other guy and maybe there's a little bit of added pressure because you want to hit perfect shots for your partner."

Coming off their dual debut PGA win, Griffin found more success the rest of the season than Novak. He followed with his first solo tour win less than a month later at the Charles Schwab Challenge and also won the World Wide Technology Championship, finishing 10th in the FedEx Cup rankings.

"Just built a lot of confidence," Griffin said of how he carried over the momentum of his Zurich win. "... I knew I was starting to play some really good golf and just wanted to keep playing as many events as I possibly can. Just felt that confident in my game, and I just wanted (to) keep giving myself chances.

"Didn't take long to win again, and a lot of it was kind of being freed up from finally winning on tour and having the job security and not really thinking about a whole lot except trying to compete against the best in the world and try to beat them."

Novak hasn't won again on tour in the 12 months since, but he carries better recent form into this week's event. He's coming off a T16 in last week's RBC Heritage and has three top-20 finishes as well as a top-10 this season.

Griffin has made eight of 11 cuts this season but is still looking for his first top-10 finish and has just one top-20 in his first event of the season back in January.

Novak admitted he arrived at this week's event with a different vibe after last year's Zurich success.

"I do think walking into the clubhouse today and pulling in and registering, it does feel a little bit different. Just a little bit more confidence coming in here," Novak said. "... It is a nice little different vibe. A little bit of extra confidence coming into this week. It's still a golf tournament. We're going to have to go out. We don't win just because we show up. We're going to have to play well. I think vibes are good."

-Field Level Media/Reuters