Ben Griffin launches umbrella into Riviera range net in wild Genesis Invitational scene

Ben Griffin produced one of the most comical scenes of the 2026 PGA Tour season so far during the third round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club — and yes, another umbrella paid the price.

Just a week after Viktor Hovland saw his umbrella lodged high in a cypress tree at Pebble Beach, Griffin found himself in a remarkably similar predicament on Riviera’s par-4 2nd hole. Only this time, it wasn’t a tree causing the chaos — it was the towering range net that looms menacingly down the left-hand side of the fairway.

Griffin, a three-time PGA Tour winner, tugged his drive left and immediately feared the worst. The ball appeared to have become embedded high in the practice range netting. The problem? From the ground, there was no way to confirm whether the ball stuck in the mesh was actually his.

And so, in a move that had echoes of last week’s Hovland drama, Griffin took matters — and an umbrella — into his own hands.

With spectators looking on, he launched the umbrella skywards in an attempt to dislodge or at least identify the ball. Instead, the umbrella became the latest casualty of the season, lodging itself awkwardly in the netting — nowhere near the suspected golf ball.

The resulting image was priceless. Griffin stood below, staring up at an umbrella dangling helplessly several feet away from the ball in question. Social media quickly declared it an early contender for golf image of the year.

Unlike Hovland’s situation at Pebble Beach — which ultimately forced him to return to the tee after failing to identify his ball — Griffin had one crucial advantage.

A television camera operator zoomed in on the ball, and according to fans on site, the branding became visible: Maxfli.

Given Griffin is the only player in the field this week using a Maxfli ball, the identification was confirmed. 

That small detail proved decisive.

Instead of the long, humiliating walk back to the tee, Griffin was permitted to take an unplayable lie, incurring a one-stroke penalty but keeping play moving forward.

While Griffin avoided a re-tee, the hole still unravelled.

After taking relief, he failed to find the green with his third shot and was unable to get up and down and the result was a double bogey six. 

Still, the scorecard will not be what most people remember. 

The umbrella dangling helplessly in the Riviera net, several feet from the ball it was meant to reach, will likely live longer in the memory.

It’s rare to see such scenarios unfold once in a season, let alone twice in back-to-back weeks. 

But Griffin’s quick-thinking — if slightly misguided — attempt at identification ensured another bizarre chapter in what is becoming the PGA Tour’s unofficial “umbrella saga.”

And somewhere, umbrellas everywhere are nervously watching their surroundings.