Garrick Higgo

Garrick Higgo
Personal information
Born (1999-05-12) 12 May 1999 (age 25)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight185 lb (84 kg)
Sporting nationality South Africa
Career
CollegeUniversity of Nevada-Las Vegas
Turned professional2019
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
European Tour
Sunshine Tour
Former tour(s)Challenge Tour
Big Easy Tour
Professional wins7
Highest ranking38 (20 June 2021)[1]
(as of 3 November 2024)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
European Tour3
Sunshine Tour2
Challenge Tour1
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 2022
PGA ChampionshipT64: 2021
U.S. OpenCUT: 2021
The Open ChampionshipT47: 2022
Achievements and awards
Sunshine Tour
Rookie of the Year
2019–20

Garrick Higgo (born 12 May 1999) is a South African professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour, European Tour and the Sunshine Tour. He has won three times on the European Tour, winning the 2020 Open de Portugal and the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open as well as the Canary Islands Championship in 2021.

He won his first PGA Tour title in his second start, at the Palmetto Championship.[2]

Amateur career

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Higgo attended the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018, turning professional during his sophomore year.[3]

Professional career

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Higgo turned professional in early 2019 and won twice in his first full season on the Sunshine Tour, at the Sun City Challenge and the season-ending Tour Championship. He also recorded a runner-up finish in the Challenge Tour co-sanctioned Cape Town Open during the 2019–20 season and finished 6th on the Order of Merit.[4]

Higgo secured a place on the Challenge Tour for the 2020 season by making the cut at the European Tour Qualifying School. In September 2020, at the Open de Portugal, a dual-ranking event on the European and Challenge tours, he shot a bogey-free final round of 65 to win by one stroke and gain a one-year exemption on the European Tour.[5]

In April 2021, Higgo secured his second European Tour victory at the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open. He won the event with an aggregate score of 255, beating Andy Sullivan's record of 257 previously set in 2020.[6] Two weeks later, Higgo won again in the Canary Islands, at the Canary Islands Championship; a final score of 257 (27 under par) saw him win by six shots ahead of Maverick Antcliff.[7]

In June 2021, Higgo won the PGA Tour's Palmetto Championship in South Carolina by one stroke. With the win, Higgo won more than $1,300,000 and secured PGA Tour membership through the end of the 2023 season.[8]

Personal life

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Higgo was born on 12 May 1999 in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Susan and Michael Higgo. He started playing golf socially with his father at a very young age and developed an early passion for the game. In 2008, when Higgo was aged 9, his father died in a car crash.[9]

Higgo attended Paul Roos Gymnasium in the town of Stellenbosch.[3] He has been mentored by South African golfer, Gary Player throughout his career and often meets with Player to discuss course and play strategies.[10] Higgo lives in the town of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Higgo has two siblings, Calista and Michael.[3]

Amateur wins

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  • 2016 Curro South African Juniors International, Northern Amateur Open, Central Gauteng Open Stroke Play
  • 2017 Nomads National Order of Merit (Coastal), Cape Province Open, The Bobby Locke Open, Harry Oppenheimer Trophy

Source:[11]

Professional wins (7)

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PGA Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runners-up
1 13 Jun 2021 Palmetto Championship −11 (68-69-68-68=273) 1 stroke United States Chesson Hadley, England Tyrrell Hatton,
United States Doc Redman, United States Hudson Swafford,
United States Bo Van Pelt, Venezuela Jhonattan Vegas

European Tour wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 20 Sep 2020 Open de Portugal1 −19 (68-70-66-65=269) 1 stroke Spain Pep Anglès
2 25 Apr 2021 Gran Canaria Lopesan Open −25 (65-64-63-63=255) 3 strokes Germany Maximilian Kieffer
3 9 May 2021 Canary Islands Championship −27 (66-63-64-64=257) 6 strokes Australia Maverick Antcliff

1Dual-ranking event with the Challenge Tour

Sunshine Tour wins (2)

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Legend
Tour Championships (1)
Other Sunshine Tour (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 7 Jun 2019 Sun City Challenge −7 (69-71-69=209) 1 stroke South Africa Ockie Strydom
2 23 Feb 2020 The Tour Championship −19 (67-70-66-66=269) 1 stroke South Africa Haydn Porteous

Challenge Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 20 Sep 2020 Open de Portugal1 −19 (68-70-66-65=269) 1 stroke Spain Pep Anglès

1Dual-ranking event with the European Tour

Big Easy Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runners-up
1 15 May 2019 Big Easy Challenge 3 −8 (66-70-72=208) 1 stroke South Africa Clinton Grobler, South Africa Martin Vorster (a)

Results in major championships

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Tournament 2021 2022
Masters Tournament CUT
PGA Championship T64 CUT
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship CUT T47
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 2022 2023 2024
The Players Championship CUT T44 WD

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

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Tournament 2021
Championship
Match Play
Invitational WD
Champions NT1

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Did not play

WD = withdrew
NT = No tournament

Team appearances

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Amateur

References

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  1. ^ "Week 25 2021 Ending 20 Jun 2021" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  2. ^ DiMeglio, Steve (13 June 2021). "After a morning call from Gary Player, Garrick Higgo earns first PGA Tour win at Palmetto Championship in second start". Golfweek. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Garrick Higgo". UNLV. 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Double delight for Higgo as he claims Tour Championship". Sunshine Tour. 23 February 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Open de Portugal: Garrick Higgo claims maiden European Tour win". Sky Sports. 20 September 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Higgo comes out on top on Gran Canaria". European Tour. 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Peerless Higgo powers to another win on the Canaries". European Tour. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  8. ^ Morfit, Cameron (13 June 2021). "Garrick Higgo wins Palmetto Championship at Congaree". PGA Tour. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Garrick Higgo, the latest South African on the rise". USA Today. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  10. ^ Schreiber, Max (23 June 2021). "Garrick Higgo has a special relationship with fellow South African legend". Golf Channel. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Garrick Higgo". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
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