PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 21, 2021

Harry Higgs

Alex Higgs

The Ocean Course at Kiawah

Flash Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We're pleased to be joined by Harry Higgs and potentially a special guest. Harry posted a 1-under 71 today and is 1-under for the championship. Really solid day today.

We'll ask you a little bit about your last couple of holes in a second with a specific question, but in the totality of your round, you have to feel pretty good about what you accomplished today under trying conditions.

HARRY HIGGS: Yeah. Yeah. I thought I did a good job today. I could have -- no, quite honestly I think even on the hard holes, I made good swings that they're just not going to end up on the green. They're not going to end up -- no golf ball that I hit ended up in a bad spot, so that's what we're trying to do here. It's really hard to get the ball close to the hole when you're hitting 4-iron from 170 into a howling wind.

But that being said, I made some good swings, and the balls ended up in good spots, and we just kept plugging along and plugging along and plugging along, and my brother Alex did a good job -- brother/caddie did a good job of just not letting me hit any golf balls -- because as players we all love going at flags and pulling off the shot. He did a very good job of trying his best to not allow me to do that, but trying to just instill it in me, do not hit the ball at the flag.

THE MODERATOR: A heck of an accomplishment going birdie-birdie on 17 and 18. I don't think we've seen that this week. Walk us through the two holes and then give us your perspective on how much you gained just in those 20, 25 minutes.

HARRY HIGGS: Yeah, well, I probably gained about, I'd say, an hour and a half, two hours of sleep, which is never a bad thing, especially after playing this golf course two days in a row.

Yeah, and it certainly gained -- I'm sure I moved up the leaderboard, I haven't seen to what position, but the finish that I had gives me a chance to have a good round tomorrow and get in the mix and try to win this thing on Sunday, which is pretty cool.

Both of those holes are -- 17 you're trying to hit a 4-iron as low and as hard, and there's a little yellow hazard stake about probably 10 feet left of the left edge of the green, and that's essentially your flagstick, and I did a good job. I kind of -- mine got in the air a little bit more so it ended up just short of the bunkers. My brother said before I hit the shot on the tee, if you hit this ball in the bunkers, I'll make you a cocktail tonight, because anything left there is fine. A 4 on that hole is a really good score.

My ball got up in the air a little bit more, so it stayed just short, and I don't know what it was, but I just kind of had a moment there that -- like I'm just going to make this putt, and I kept saying it, kept saying it, kept saying it, and right before I hit it I said, I'm going to make it with good speed. I couldn't really tell from whatever it was, 50, 60 feet, how well I did on my speed, but the ball ended up in the bottom of the hole, and we moved on to 18, which is probably not any easier. At least there's no water.

Hit a decent drive. I don't know what it is, I keep catching it off the toe off that tee and it just leaked a little too far right. All of our balls, the guys in my group were probably within five yards of each other, and I was the only one with a lie that could get it to the green, and I hit a good shot to the front edge. And it was kind of the same thing, I was looking around trying to gauge the speed and how the putt is going to break, and right before I hit it, I said, well, I might as well make this one, too, and it started rolling, and I kind of -- both of them as I hit them and the ball started rolling, I said, well, that's in.

A really cool way to finish. Try to decompress, come down from a little bit of a high, but fortunately I got probably another two hours of sleep with the 2, 3 finish.

Q. It seems to have given you a jolt of energy here. Why wouldn't it, right?

HARRY HIGGS: Yeah, it's impossible for it not to. Fortunate you don't have to make the turn and go play nine more holes, right? It gets difficult to start to play with that kind of energy. The tee shot on 18, it's still really difficult, but I was amped up after making a 2 on 17 and the way that I did it, long putt and all.

So, yeah, you just try to take some deep breaths and hit it hard. Fortunately I did that twice and then holed another long one to have a good finish.

Q. Let's ask you about your brother and the team dynamic that you have. Introduce your brother, and we'll bring him up in a moment, but before he gets there, why don't you tell us why he's here, where he could be if he was on his own, and just the team aspect, the bond that you guys have out there.

HARRY HIGGS: Yeah, the why that he's here is he's quickly become one of, in my opinion, the best caddies in the game. He was kind enough to deal with my -- we won't say an expletive, but deal with my crap, and he does so very well. Probably -- he gets it a little bit too much. That's the older brother in me.

But no, this week he and a very good friend of ours, Park Ulrich, qualified for the USGA four-ball out at Chambers Bay, and I know that Alex had a flight booked today just in case.

I think regardless of my play, if I'm not mistaken, the afternoon tee time that we had would have made the travel difficult, but no, Park will have to play tomorrow by himself, and that's his plan.

Hopefully he -- we love you, Park, and hopefully you play your tail off and qualify for match play so then we can get Al all the way across the country to play some matches on Monday.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about the dynamic you had? Give an example of him making you a cocktail so you make a putt. What kind of incentives do you use and what kind of cocktails he makes for you?

HARRY HIGGS: Well, just Tito's and water, very simple for me. No, he does a good job, and honestly he does a very good job, and I want even more from him in terms of stuff like that. We'll every now and again, you hit it in a bunker and you get up there and maybe you're irritated it's in a bunker but it's in a good spot, and he'll just say, hey, man, $100 if you hole this. Like that just gets you in a good mood, in a good frame of mind to pull off a great shot.

So no, yeah, he owes me a cocktail. I hit it left of the flag on 17. Obviously you pretty much have to hit it left of the flag because the flag looks like it's in the water.

No, we have some fun out there for sure. Maybe it looks like we have more fun than others, but I tell you, especially this week, the fun is still brutal. Like there is no letup, you just have to continually hit your ball where it's supposed to go.

Every now and again, it's like, hey, man, you can just hit this nine miles. He did a good job on 13, too, which is a tough tee shot, and he said, Harry, I think you should tee your driver up high and hit it as hard as you can over that bunker. He kind of knows that's why he is great for me. He kind of knows if I'm going to high and hard, I'm probably going to push it. So I aimed over the bunker and pushed it a little bit, and it flew straight downwind and I had a sand wedge into that hole, which makes that hole a whole lot easier. Still a par hole, but it makes it a whole lot easier.

Just little things like that. We've played golf together for probably 15, 18 years, and then he's seen for about two years what I do in tournament golf, and he's caught on quickly to that, as well.

Q. Alex, from what your brother is saying, it looks like it's cost you money to caddie for him, that you have to pay him to make birdies and things like that, no?

ALEX HIGGS: Yeah, it's just an investment for me. If he's holing out bunker shots, come Sunday those are going to be hopefully worth a little bit more than the amount that I'm asking him to make them for.

Q. Did you tell your brother about your flight before you started today? How do you feel about this whole thing?

ALEX HIGGS: Yeah, so I made it a while ago, and I think I told him about it in some way, shape or form. It was for 6:45 today, and yeah, the wave that we got obviously kind of made that tough with all the traffic getting back to the airport, and obviously it's not exactly close to here in Seattle. But it was a win-win going into the week for me.

I love Park to death, but I think I probably would have picked this outcome over the other one. We can always qualify next year.

Q. What's your age difference?

ALEX HIGGS: Three and a half.

HARRY HIGGS: Yeah, three and a half.

Q. Mom and dad here?

ALEX HIGGS: Yeah, they're right back there.

HARRY HIGGS: Dad turned 60 on Wednesday, and Al's girlfriend Katie, her birthday is today, she's something in the 20s.

Q. Harry, you're currently tied for 14th. You're in a pretty good position here going into the weekend, 36-hole mark. You've got to like what those last two holes brought you and what you'll sleep on tonight for a couple extra hours.

HARRY HIGGS: Yeah, no doubt. I think fortunately a lot of folks that asked me, this is your first major and all, the golf course we're playing is so hard, you can't even stop to think -- you can't even stop to smile and say hello to people as they cheer your name. It's so hard, you just put your head down and keep going and going and going.

I mean, yes, tomorrow we'll be pretty amped up. I do have a pretty good chance to win with a really good day tomorrow, but the golf course just never lets up, so you have to just continually, next shot, next spot, next shot, next spot. But, yeah, hopefully drop a few more 60-footers tomorrow and get in the mix, and that would be a pretty cool scene if I made another 60-footer on Sunday to potentially win the golf tournament.

Q. Could see you with the Mickelsons in a grouping on Sunday.

HARRY HIGGS: Sure, sure, I would love to. This is what we all want to do, play and compete and beat the best in the world.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. Enjoy your evening, enjoy the cocktails and back at 'em tomorrow.