Chapel Hill hometown kids had more big wins on Sunday.
How about the continued ascendance of Drake Maye and Ben Griffin?
Maye, the former Tar Heel star under Mack Brown, led the Patriots to a seventh straight win and a two-game lead over the Bills in the AFC East. New England beat the Buccaneers in a 28-23 thriller in Tampa. He dueled the Bucs Baker Mayfield, who threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns. Maye had 270 with two TDs and one pick.
It was billed a battle for MVP in the National Football League, which sounds overstated since Maye in his second professional season. After the game, his odds to win the award actually went up.
He completed 16 passes, 6 to fellow Tar Heel Mack Hollins and directed an offense missing its number one back and best long-ball receiver. His fourth quarter interception followed Hollins’ catch in the red zone, forcing the Patriots to hang on for an 8-2 record.
Before turning off the TV, I checked the fourth round scores in the PGA golf tournament in Cabo San Lucas to see how Griffin was doing down the stretch. He was close after three rounds and was now leading late in the fourth, thanks to birdies on all four par 3s. His fourth birdie put him 28 under par and two shots ahead going to the par 5, 72nd hole.
The Golf Channel announcers were recounting his amazing journey from high school and college star in Chapel Hill to quitting the game four years ago only to return and fix whatever was ailing him. He had already won two PGA tournaments this year, and winning again would match Scottie Shcheffler and Rory McIlroy with three, all of whom were in the Ryder Cup matches last summer.
Ben hit fairway wood to the green about 25 feet below the hole. His playing partners did the same and two putted for birdies. Griffin also finished with a fourth-round 63, setting the professional course record and assuring him a spot among the top 10 golfers in the world. Three years ago, he barely made the top 100.
“Major championships will now be the goal for him,” crowed the talking head, citing his top 10 finishes in the U.S. Open and PGA Championship over the summer.
The confident Griffin is pretty stoic but shows a shy smile when the crowd acknowledges him. And a bigger one when hugging his fiancé Dana who always follows him on site and will become his wife in December.
“Three wins and getting married in the same year,” Ben said. “She means the world to me, and I am very excited to be her husband.”
Somewhere in the sky and then over their home state of North Carolina, Maye and Griffin were on private planes on the way to Florida and Foxboro, where the Patriots play the Jets Thursday night on Amazon.
Featured image via Associated Press/Chris O’Meara
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
