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FIGHTING

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Garrick Higgo has emerged from injury darkness a stronger player, and person

By Michael Vlismas

The Garrick Higgo who won three DP World Tour events, one PGA Tour event and one Sunshine Tour event in two years to climb to 38th in the world was clearly good. But the Garrick Higgo you’re seeing now has the potential to do so much more.

With his win at the PGA Tour’s Corales Puntacana Championship in April this year, Higgo, 26, ended a four-year win drought and a period of injury frustration and soul searching that led to an overhaul of his swing under the eye of Sean Foley.

‘I went to see Sean two years ago after missing the cut at Colonial [in the Charles Schwab Challenge] by a million. I’ve always hit it well enough to compete, and win. But I knew it wasn’t as good as it needs to be to compete at Majors and to do what I want to do in this game,’ he says.

‘People ask why I made the changes because they think I was hitting it great. But I got a lot of it done on the greens and around the greens. For me to become an elite iron player, which is what I want, I needed to make these changes.’

‘I’m not here for mediocrity. I want to be the best I can be, and if that meant playing badly through changes, so be it’

Higgo is methodical in his explanation of the exact changes made, which come down to seeking more consistency and relying less on the impeccable timing he’d developed and which if it wasn’t there, would throw him right out.

‘It’s also a testimony to my hard work and talent that it did the job for me, but it wasn’t sustainable. I knew I needed to make changes. I’m not here for mediocrity. I want to be the best I can be, and if that meant playing badly through changes, so be it,’ he says.

The wrist injury crept up more steadily.

‘My left wrist had a lot of inflammation in it. I first hurt it in 2021 and then severely in 2023. I also hurt it again at The Players in 2024. I kept feeling a sharp pinch on the way down. So I’d lose so much control because of the pain. But I finally got it figured out last year and I’m healthy now.’

‘I’ve been in a dark place for two years... But I feel like a completely different person and golfer now’

The fact Higgo remained somewhat competitive throughout all of this upheaval is proof of a man who has never wavered in his belief in himself and where he feels his talent can take him.

‘I wouldn’t say I’ve been smiling throughout it all. I’ve been in a dark place for two years. This is my career and I give a lot and train so hard.

‘The PGA Tour schedule is also ruthless. It’s like a hamster wheel. It’s by far the hardest Tour out there. There are no breaks. It’s so competitive. If you don’t play, you’re dropping at least 10 spots on the FedEx Cup Standings.

‘But I kept a long-term perspective. Looking at the future and what I want to get to is what kept me going. I feel like a completely different person and golfer now.’

Where he wants to get to is the Majors, and his ability to be competitive here is even clearer after he was lying tie-seventh through two rounds of The PGA Championship in May.

The Garrick Higgo of 2020 and 2021 was something special. But the Garrick Higgo of the future could be something truly remarkable.

QUICK Q&A

How much have you changed through this process?

I’ve changed a lot. But I wouldn’t want my journey any other way. I think it’s a blessing I won on the PGA Tour early because I never really knew how hard it is out here. Playing with the best players in the world at the Majors early on also helped me so much for the normal events. It gets you used to the idea that they are your competition. It just makes you raise your game. I’ve matured a lot.

You also got married between these wins.

Yes. I got married at the end of 2023 to Chandré. She’s amazing. We got married in Stellenbosch where we both grew up. She’s been great at tournaments in organising things for us to do away from the golf.

How did the Malbon sponsorship come about?

When I lost my full card on the PGA Tour, a few sponsors left. I could’ve kept some, but I didn’t want to look like a NASCAR driver. And I didn’t want to devalue what I felt I was worth, and where I was going with my career. So I didn’t renew those. I felt a lot of freedom in that and I found more of my identity in that freedom. I played with ScHoolboy Q, a rapper whose music I like, at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2023. Stephen Malbon, the owner of Malbon, caddied for him. I like that fashion, so the opportunity came about.

Is the hair going to stay?

Definitely. I hate cutting my hair.