Garrick

Higgo

The South African arrived on the heels of five straight missed cuts, worldwide. “I think my game has matured. I think you can see it. I feel like all parts of my game have improved in the last year, and I certainly took a dip in confidence and in my game, but I feel like I’ve kind of reaped the rewards from that little dip.” His week at the Country Club of Jackson saw him rank 5th in GIR, sitting top 10 in both of the strokes gained ball-striking categories (off-the-tee and approach). Next up is a return to Las Vegas where he spent some time during his days at UNLV.

Higgo burst onto the scene last summer, winning the inaugural Palmetto Championship on a sponsor exemption to earn full PGA Tour status. But he hasn’t been able to build upon that breakthrough, as the South African has missed 23 cuts since including each of his last five starts dating back to the 3M Open. He made it to the weekend at the Country Club of Jackson with ease, shooting rounds of 70-66, and he followed with a 4-under 68 Saturday that moved him to 12 under for the week. Higgo is now tied for third, three shots behind overnight leader Mark Hubbard, as he looks to parlay a rare final-round tee time into a second Tour title. Either way a chance to contend is a welcome result for a player who has fallen from 39th to 166th in the world rankings after his surprise victory at Congaree.

The South Africans began solo 2nd, five adrift of leaders Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, and after going out in 1-over (1 birdie, 2 bogeys), were now in a race for a podium. Unlike their bogey-free day-tying-low 65 in alternate shot in R2, which had they repeated that effort today they would’ve won by two, Sunday proved too tall a task, outbalancing four birdies with five bogeys. For Higgo, making his debut, he finally nabs a second top 10 in 21 career events, first since winning last season’s fill-in Palmetto Championship 19 starts ago as a non-member on a Commissioner’s Exemption, and for Grace, this is his first top 10 in the event in four attempts, and his second top 10 of the season in 14 starts, first since T7 at the ZOZO in Japan 12 starts ago. For the week, the duo signed for rounds of 64-65-63-73, and ended up six back of playing competitors and eventual champs Schauffele and Cantlay (72). See link below to post-round comments.

The young South African began his first stroll around Augusta National in ideal fashion as he made birdie on Hole Number 1. Remaining at 1-under through his first four holes, Higgo struggled during the middle part of his round, playing his next seven holes in 4-over. Off a double-bogey on the difficult par-4 11th, Higgo entered Amen Corner at 3-over before rattling off a birdie on the par-5 13th. Adding another on the par-5 15th and one more on the par-3 16th, Higgo was able to claw his way back to even-par for the day. When asked about his first Masters experience, the 22-year-old said, “It’s unbelievable. Nice to play with Freddy and Guido. I know Guido from the DP World Tour. Freddy has been nice to both of us. He has obviously played this quite a few times. He helped kind of steady the ship a little bit as well.” He went on to add, “Just when we hit a good shot, even though it’s in the middle of the green, he would say, that’s perfect or great shot. Yeah, he was supportive.” The link to Higgo’s first transcript can be found below.

It has been an up-and-down 2021-22 sophomore campaign for Higgo who has played 11 times worldwide since the beginning of October. Missing four cuts and failing to crack the top-20 on any leaderboard, the Palmetto Championship winner is very much searching for some consistency in his game. Hoping his difficulties are left behind in Florida, the 22-year-old is now set to make his tournament debut at the Valero Texas Open. If able to find the game which led to three victories in a five tournament stretch last spring, Higgo has the potential to continue South Africa’s success at Augusta National.

The UNLV product is quietly around the top 10 after 54 holes for a second time in his last four PGA TOUR starts, and he’s getting stronger each day, tossing up laps of 70-69-64. Today’s 64 is not a career low on TOUR, that would be an 8-under 63 in R2 two starts ago at Mayakoba, where he eventually finished T64 (71-63-69-75), but it’s put him in position for his second top 10 in 14 TOUR events, first since his maiden win 12 starts ago at the one-time Palmetto Championship as a non-member on a Commissioner’s exemption, where he came from six back (3rd) with 3-under 68 to win by one. The South African opened his scoring today with bogey-5 at 11 (failed sand save) before playing his final 16 in error-free 8-under, circling holes 14, 15, 18, 3-5, 8 and 9, three from between 13 and 20 feet.

With both players possessing a career scoring average below 68.00, the two have done no worse than T-11 in their four combined starts at TPC Scottsdale. With Higgo entering the fold, the 22-year-old will look to continue this trend for South Africa. Playing in the Sentry Tournament of Champions to begin his 2022, Higgo has since traveled to Abu Dhabi and Dubai for the beginning of the DP World Tour’s season. Finishing in a tie for 47th at the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic, Higgo was hindered by his around-the-green play, posting -1.26 SG: Around-the-Green per round. Gaining strokes on the field with the rest of his game, just a simple improvement could go a long way for the debutant. For a player who has done nothing but win in his young career, the world No. 72 presents plenty of upside on DraftKings as he is priced at $6,600.

The 22-year-old from South Africa will make his second appearance at the Abu Dhabi event, where he missed the cut last season. Higgo recorded a standout season in 2021, winning twice in Europe at the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open and Canaray Islands Championship before heading to the PGA Tour for the bulk of the summer, where he went 5-for-8 and notched his first Tour victory in June at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree. He finished 107th on the FedExCup standings after not having Tour status at the start of the year and was 21st on the DPWT’s Race to Dubai. In the Tour’s fall series, Higgo made four starts, missing just one cut at the Shriners. Most recently, Higgo finished T-25 (16 under) at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, well behind winner Cameron Smith at 34-under 258.

The South African, who arrived off a missed cut at the SA Open on the Sunshine Tour five weeks ago, was asked post-round today about going to a shorter-length driver to which he replied, “Two years ago I went to the longer driver because I needed a bit of length. But I started working out a lot more so I think I’ve gone too far and I need to find a bit more fairways out here.” The UNLV product, who has his brother and fiancée with him this week, got into the event from his maiden (and lone) TOUR win at last season’s one-time Palmetto Championship in his second career TOUR event, and as a non-member on a commissioner’s exemption. In 10 starts since, he’s not finished inside the top 30, but did post a career-low 63 in R2 at Mayakoba in his last start on this tour, and was in the top 10 after two of four rounds at the Bermuda Championship prior to that. The 22-year-old circled five birdies today on 11 (of 15) fairways and 16 greens in regulation, gaining 0.870 strokes off-the-tee, 10th-ranked in that stat, and 0.326 with the flat stick (17th-ranked). See link below to post-round comments.