ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — After shooting 7-under 63 on Friday, Harry Higgs was asked whether he has been putting pretty well of late. He smiled and corrected the writer. “No, I’ve been putting really good,” Higgs said.
Indeed, he has. Higgs gained more than three strokes to the field on the greens at Sea Island Resort’s Seaside Course on Friday, the second best performance in the field and it propelled him into a share of the 36-hole lead with Cole Hammer and Andrew Putnam at 12-under 130 in the RSM Classic.
“It’s usually pretty good,” Higgs said of his putting. “I feel like I have very good touch, and I feel like I read the greens really well, so that should be pretty easy. The only poor putt I hit today was kind of the first one that I had that was slow and I just kind of laughed.”
His ballstriking has been equally as impressive. Higgs has hit 33 of 36 greens in regulation through two rounds.
“The way that I’m putting, I just have to get it somewhere on the green and it’s probably going to come close to going in the hole,” he said.
Higgs struggled last season and is playing out of the Nos. 126-150 category this season. His confidence lagged and it took a hard look in the mirror to realize he’s been his own worst enemy.
“It’s miserable, it sucks, but it’s part of what we have to do,” he said of battling to keep playing privileges each season. “You have to deal with it. It’s OK to be fearful, it’s OK to feel the pressure. It’s just kind of how you react to it, right? Whether you kind of want to run and hide in the corner. Like I wouldn’t say I necessarily ran and hid in the corner, but I was very down on myself.”
Higgs spoke recently about how instead of spiraling down, he’s trying to spiral up and not be so hard on himself. His attitude on the course has improved, and he’s shown some signs of finding life in his game. His Friday 63 marked his fourth bogey-free round of 65 or less already this season.
“I’m going to at some point get out of this rut, which I felt like I was really close to doing in Bermuda and then played a poor day Friday. You know, a couple weeks ago in Mexico it felt like I was at least – the tires were spinning the other way, I was going to get out of it,” he said. “Come here and sure, I could do a lot of things better than I did this week so far, but I think I’m tied for first place, so you can take it easy, man. Like it’s OK to hit a few poor shots and smile a little bit and joke.”