Harry Higgs delivered 2 shocking victories. Then came a touching speech
Harry Higgs at the Visit Knoxville Open.
Harry Higgs at the Visit Knoxville Open.
First came the golf.
You wouldn’t have seen this coming two weeks ago. Not when Harry Higgs finished T50 at the PGA Tour’s opposite-field Myrtle Beach Classic and stayed just inside the top 500 in the world.
But then Higgs, a longtime fan favorite, delivered an incredible win at the Korn Ferry Tour’s AdventHealth Championship. It was incredible because it was Higgs’ first win in five years, incredible because it was his first top 10 on any tour in over a year and incredible because it required a hole-out eagle from 83 yards to book his spot in a playoff, which he then won with a birdie on the first extra hole.
Down to the wire👀@harryhiggs1991 shares the co-lead after an eagle hole-out on No. 18. Tanner Gore has one hole to go @AHChampGolf1. pic.twitter.com/mYfbxSg7wf
— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) May 19, 2024
That was last week.
This week brought the Visit Knoxville Open, where Higgs opened with 64-65 to keep the good times rolling. He entered Sunday one shot back of the lead but reeled off five birdies in his first six holes and played the rest of the round even par to post 19-under 261. That number was equaled by Frankie Capan III, who birdied the last to force a playoff.
So Higgs went to extra holes for a second consecutive week. And for a second consecutive week he made a spectacular eagle, this time from 37 feet on the second playoff hole to secure his second consecutive victory.
It was the first time in Korn Ferry Tour history that a player won back-to-back weeks. More importantly for Higgs it catapults him to No. 2 on the KFT’s points list, all but ensuring he’ll be promoted back to full status on the PGA Tour for next season.
“It does eons for confidence, but there’s a reason why I won,” Higgs said post-round. “Taking care of my body, my mind. Obviously I stuck to the exact same routine as last week and it worked again this week, so that’s probably not going to change much.”
Nor should it.
Then came the speech.
Higgs admitted he had a tough time getting to sleep Saturday night. He was running through what might happen if he won — and what he might say if he did. The tragic death of Grayson Murray weighed heavy on his mind. His playoff eagle afforded him the opportunity to address the crowd.
Here’s what he said:
“I just have a message, so forgive me if things get a little deep,” Higgs began. “We lost, yesterday, one of our own. I don’t know if you guys heard the news, but somebody who went through a lot of difficult things, somebody that was open and honest about it. And I thought last night, I didn’t sleep worth a darn. And I’m really good at sleeping. I thought about this moment and how to maybe remember Grayson.
