ST. SIMONS ISLAND (Ga.) — Harry Higgs shot 7-under 63 Friday and was asked if he’s been playing well lately. He smiled at the reporter and corrected him. Higgs replied, “No, I have been putting really great,”
He has. Higgs added more than three strokes to Friday’s field on the Sea Island Resort’s Seaside Course. This was the second-best performance in the field, and it helped him share the 36-hole lead alongside Cole Hammer and Andrew Putnam, who are both 12-under 130 in RSM Classic.
Higgs stated that his putting was “usually pretty good.” Higgs said that he feels like he has a very good touch and that he reads the greens well. That should make it easy. I laughed at the one poor putt that I made today. It was the slowest.
His ball-striking is equally impressive. Through two rounds, Higgs hit 33 of the 36 greens in regulation.
He said, “The way I’m putting it, I just need to get it somewhere onto the green and it’s likely to go in the hole.”
Higgs had a difficult season last year and is now playing for the Nos. This season, he is in the 126-150 range. He lost his confidence and had to take a hard look at himself in the mirror to see that he was his worst enemy.
He said that while it was difficult to maintain playing privileges every season, “it’s miserable, it suckers, but it’s part what we have to deal with.” It’s up to you to cope with it. It’s okay to be afraid, and it’s okay to feel the pressure. It all depends on how you respond to it. It doesn’t matter if you want to hide in the corner or run. Although I wouldn’t necessarily say that I ran and hide in the corner, I was quite down on myself.”
Higgs recently spoke out about how, instead of spiraling downwards, he is trying to spiral upwards and not be too hard on himself. His attitude has changed and he is showing signs of life on the course. His Friday 63 was his fourth round without a bogey, which is a total of 65 holes or less.
“I’m going at some point to get out of this stupendous rut,” he said. I felt like I was very close to doing that in Bermuda, and then I had a bad day Friday. He said that a few weeks ago, it felt like I had been at least in Mexico. “I was going to get out it,” he said. “Come here, and while I can do many things better than what I did this week, I think I’m tied with first place. So you can relax, man. It’s okay to make a few mistakes, but smile a bit and laugh.
