Garrick Higgo watches his drive on the third tee Sunday during the final round of the Palmetto Championship in Ridgeland, S.C. Higgo, 22, earned his first PGA Tour victory. Stephen B. Morton/Associated Press
RIDGELAND, S.C. — Garrick Higgo’s day began with a call from South African golfing great Gary Player. It ended in triumph, just like so many of Player’s Sundays did in his Hall of Fame career.
Higgo, 22, won the Palmetto Championship at Congaree for his first victory on the PGA Tour, taking the tournament after leader Chesson Hadley squandered a two-shot lead with bogeys on his final three holes.
The 85-year-old Player told his rising, young countryman not to worry about trailing Hadley by six shots starting the final round.
“He’d told me he’s done it before, won quite a few times from six behind, seven behind,” Higgo recalled. “Just try and do your thing and stay up there. You don’t know what can happen.”
Player was right, as Higgo remained patient and steady throughout – and made sure to take advantage when opportunities arose.
The left-hander did that with a closing 3-under 68 – his fourth round in the 60s this week – charged by an eagle on the par-5 12th hole and a birdie on the 14th to reach 11 under, the winning score.
Higgo kept himself in position on the challenging 17th hole, rolling in a 10-foot par save after not hitting the fairway on his first two shots.
Higgo sensed the moment was his if he could sink the putt. “I had a good feeling on that,” he said with smile.
He also benefitted from a late collapse by Hadley, who held the lead after the second and third rounds. Hadley, seeking his first win since 2014, was still ahead by two shots starting the 16th hole. But a wayward tee shot led to a bogey there, and he failed to get up and down on the 71st and 72nd holes.
“I can only imagine what it looked like on TV because it looked freaking awful from my view,” Hadley said. “I mean, I could barely keep it on the planet.”
Hadley finished with a 75 and fell into a tie for second with Hudson Swafford (66), Doc Redman (67), Jhonattan Vegas (67), Tyrrell Hatton (68) and Bo Van Pelt (68).
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson made a run at the top late in the round, coming within a shot of Hadley after birdies on the 10th, 12th and 13th holes. His chances ended with a triple bogey on the 16th hole, however, and he finished with a 70 to tie for 10th at 8 under.
Higgo won twice on the European Tour in the Canary Islands before playing in the PGA Championships on Kiawah Island, where he tied for 64th. He’ll head west to Torrey Pines for the U.S. Open next week.
After that, Higgo thinks he’ll likely fulfill his dream of playing regularly on the PGA Tour. His win makes him exempt through the 2023 season. He also earned $1.314 million for the career-altering victory.
“So at the moment, I’ll focus on that, see if I can keep going,” he said.
LPGA: Matilda Castren became the first Finnish winner in LPGA Tour history, pulling away on the front nine and holding off Min Lee by two strokes in the in the MEDIHEAL Championship at Daly City, California.
Castern, a 26-year-old former Florida State player, finished shot a 65 and finished at 14-under 274.
Lee, who led by two going into the final round, finished with a 69. She cut Castren’s lead to one with a birdie on the par-5 15th, but dropped a stroke with a two-putt bogey on the par-3 17th.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Jerry Kelly successfully defended his title in his hometown American Insurance Championship, closing with a 6-under 66 in Madison, Wisconsin, for a one-stroke victory over Fred Couples and Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Kelly, 54, finished at 14-under 202 for his eighth PGA Tour Champions victory.
Couples, 61, bogeyed the par-5 18th for a 68. He won the 2017 tournament for the last of his 13 senior titles.
Jimenez, the leader after each of the first two rounds, shot a 69.
Jim Furyk (68) and Retief Goosen (68) tied for fourth at 12 under.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Jonathan Caldwell won by one stroke for his first European Tour title in the inaugural Scandinavian Mixed tournament in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The event was a first on the European Tour, with 78 men and 78 women competing on the same course for one trophy and one prize money pool.
Caldwell shot a final-round 8-under 64, including eight birdies, two bogeys and an eagle on the par-4 14th. The Northern Irishman finished 17 under overall, ahead of second-place Adrian Otaegui (67).
England’s Alice Hewson was two shots behind Caldwell in third, closing with a 69.
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