American ‘super excited’ about Aussie trip

After hearing Jordan Spieth rate Kingston Heath in his “top three of all-time”, Harry Higgs was never going to turn down the chance to be part of Australia’s summer of golf.

American Higgs is counting down the days until he arrives Down Under for his assault on the Australian PGA and Australian Open championships.

“I’m super excited,” the New Jersey-born, Kansas-raised 32-year-old golfer said.

“I’ve never been to Australia. I’ve heard some unbelievable things about the golf, but also the people, (and) the country itself.

“We’re very fortunate that golf takes us all around the world. Pretty much anywhere I’ve gone is because of golf.”

Higgs has been soaking up plenty of advice about what it takes to succeed on Australian golf courses.

Among those he approached was former world No.1 and previous Australian Open champion Spieth, who paid Kingston Heath – one of the two venues for the November 28-December 1 Open – a remarkable tribute.

“He was raving about it. He said Kingston Heath is in his top three (courses) of all-time,” Higgs said.

“Royal Melbourne is awesome with the history and everything, but he said if you had to pick for fun, and some of the shots you had to hit, that he had to give Kingston Heath the edge.

“I’m going to have my bring my best, but that’ll be a fun test for me, to see how well I can do.”

Before the Open, which is also being played at the Victoria Golf Club, Higgs will be in Brisbane for the Australian PGA, which starts on Thursday week at Royal Queensland.

“From what I’ve heard, Royal Queensland is maybe similar to a Florida golf course. It wouldn’t be something that I have never totally seen before, but then the two (Open courses) on the Sandbelt could be a little tricky,” he admitted.

“It wouldn’t hurt to have some local knowledge there.”

Which is why Higgs is set to have an Australian caddie, most likely Shane Joel, on his bag at the two events.

“I’ve got to do it right. I’ve got to have an Aussie there with me the whole time, keeping it fun (and) keeping it light,” he said.

Higgs said he would also play with the relaxation of knowing that his future was settled, at least for next year, after securing his PGA Tour card for 2025 after an impressive Korn Ferry Tour season that included two wins.

“It’s nice playing golf without any worry or stress about where I’m going to be next year or what I’m going to do,” he said.

Higgs said the battle to keep his PGA Tour card beyond next year would be “60 per cent mental”.

“I imagine it will be a little bit harder on tour next year. There are more distractions, and there’ll be times when you put more pressure on yourself to have results, but I just need to continue to be nice to myself, and not beat myself up,” he said.

As for a mooted merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf next year, Higgs said he was “pretty done caring about it”.

“It’s gone on for so long, basically I’m just over it,” he said.

“Maybe 10 to 12 of the LIV guys will go on loan to us, and maybe 10 to 12 of our guys will go on loan to them. That way everybody’s happy. In theory that will make the game better, too ... (but) I don’t know that many of them (the LIV players) will come back.

“It seems like they’re enjoying their time there, enjoying doing something new, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but golf as whole would probably would be better if the two sides could come together and it least showcase some of the world’s best talent more than four times a year.”