Harry Higgs joins Smylie Kaufman to cover a wide range of topics, starting with his heartfelt winner’s speech at the Visit Knoxville Open honoring Grayson Murray’s memory with a call for kindness. From there, SK and the Big Rig chart his journey from college – where he played alongside Bryson DeChambeau at SMU – to the pro ranks, and what he’s learned along the way. Harry goes behind-the-scenes on the moment of the 2022 WM Phoenix Open – when he and Joel Dahmen removed their shirts on the 16th hole to the delight of the crowd – then recaps his two-win streak on the Korn Ferry Tour, and the four-item pre-shot checklist that has helped immensely with his mental approach. The episode concludes with Smylie and Charlie Hulme making their one-and-done picks for the RBC Canadian Open.
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[Music] that’s Smiley caufman for 61 wow I’m Smiley caufman and this is the Smiley Show welcome back to another episode of the Smiley Show we got Harry higs aka the big rig joining us here today Harry I was I was actually wondering what shirt you were going to wear today what sunglasses you were going to wear because I was going to be so disappointed if we didn’t have the unbutton buttons like we have today so luckily all the folks watching on YouTube get to see that but the sunglasses are not on so I don’t even know who this is uh could be Harry could be an accomplice but we’ve got to start with the side of your face like what’s happened here my appearance has changed uh a little bit I uh we had this plan for a little over a month I was going to get I had some skin cancer removed uh yesterday morning nothing major very easy procedure I was awake the whole time didn’t feel a darn thing uh but I’ve got to keep this kind of ridiculous looking Band-Aid on until uh until noon today when I can then uh shower and uh redo the Band-Aid I got to keep a Band-Aid on my face for 10 days but the uh the ladies that did the procedure said that uh I should be good to go play golf next week and um I was trying to convince them that I could obviously have had some success the last two weeks I was trying to convince them like let me out and uh I’m going to fly to Raleigh and and try to win a third um they were not too keen on that idea wow how about that so it was just a little bit of uh skin cancer that stopped the stopped the Run of of Harry higs right now yeah eventually I I do have to and I’ve been doing better eventually I got to be a real person um you know got got to take care of myself maybe maybe have a week at home uh to do maybe things like this or get some stuff in the house in order or make sure my now wife is uh is everything’s okay so uh-huh very fortunate to have uh some nice results the last two weeks so I don’t really have to sweat sitting at home although yes I apologize that I do look ridiculous everything’s intact nothing I’m just going to over time I’m just going to have a little tiny scar maybe it make me look tough but reminder to all the golfers out there yeah we spend we spend a lot of time outdoors in the sun uh it’s probably a good idea to go get your skin checked absolutely I know Justin Thomas has had a issue on the back of his leg and he’s got a pretty gnarly Scar from it now and uh yeah like to to your point I wish I would have worn more sunscreen when I was a kid now I’m I’m lathering up every single day and you actually were saying that maybe your sunglasses are a reason that like it’s almost like your skin that’s a theory I don’t know that it was proven but it just yeah always I always had like a little spot right underneath where obviously my sunglasses would hit and it to me it almost felt like it was like a the uh side of the sunglasses were acting as a reflector uh and just kind of like I guess quote unquote burning kind of the side of my face here um the other side is is all good um we had that checked and it was all good so it was nice that it’s just one side we caught it obviously super early and I will have no complications other than maybe looking a little ridiculous for the next few days right and Harry you just you like you said you just went backtack we first off congratulations from not only myself but Charlie Hume Who currently uh is is a producer and co-host on this podcast we were both so excited to see you get the dub but I think you know you’ve become viral you’d like it to be for winning but it was your words uh speaking upon the recent passing of Grayson Murray and I know Grayson was a friend of you also a friend to me but we’re going to play a quick excerpt from your your winning speech in Knoxville it’s about a minute long and we’re going to have you react uh after just from all the the words and text that you’ve received since this excerpt and speech I would challenge everybody here and I’m going to do this myself as well each day say something nice to someone you love and also make it a point to say something nice to somebody you do not even know the world is a very difficult place thank you the world is difficult and only getting more difficult I’ve been blessed with great parents and a great support system and I haven’t had other than some frustration at time any battles mentally but Lord knows how many people do and it’s only ever increasing so if we can everybody here could be a difference the difference Brien up somebody’s day it could mean the world that’s very well said Harry I mean you couldn’t I imagine those words and those thoughts were weighing pretty heavily on you from Grayson’s passing but since I mean that that tweet that the corn fairy put out has 2.8 million impressions so this is spread way past the game of golf you see Scott Van Pelt also reaching out and tweeting how great it was what who all have you heard from and uh how how are these last weeks gone from from uh from those words yeah um man who all have I heard from darn near everybody um and most everybody it was and as it should be it was a quick and short congratulations on my success but then also I guess in a way of congratulations and just an appreciation that that I took the time to kind of obviously honor gracea but also try to put some good out in the world um I I have been good on my challenge for the last couple days days um you know I’m going to I’m going to try to live it day by day um there were some folks that Apple did point out that I forgot you know if we’re going to if we say there’s basically two levels of kindness in my challenge the kindness to a stranger kindness to a loved one some folks did actually point out that there probably should be a third um that I missed in the moment there but uh kindness to yourself say something nice to yourself each day um which I think that’s kind of the whole point of mental Health again I I don’t really have much experience with with any any sort of struggles um but there are you know millions that do and you know maybe even just a kind word to yourself as you as you end a day as you start a day uh is a great way to do it too but uh yeah it’s it’s been it’s been pretty I I would say I get you know selfishly pretty awesome to hear from a ton of people to to hear their appreciation for one me obviously honoring Grayson and then also just saying what I said um I’ve got I’ve even gotten some emails from from some folks that have W experienced mental health or have lost people uh that they love to Suicide um you know I have dealt with that in my own family um my in kind of our friend Circle you know people growing up there there are people that you know were really really struggling and didn’t maybe have the outlets that they that they needed to to get help um and quite frankly I mean this is my opinion and my selfish opinion on it I’m I’m tired of hearing of people that um maybe struggle and and don’t know of a way to uh to get through that struggle again I do not have experience with it so this uh I don’t want to come off as Brash uh but I I certainly am tired of hearing and if I can use I guess quote un my platform um to make a difference in somebody’s life or somebody’s day um somebody’s mental health I think that’s far worth it it’s uh that is the more important stuff than winning a golf tournament and you know well was me it’s as you know Smiley we can get caught up in our own little worlds um you can get caught up sure can yeah I mean and that’s okay too you know we’re human beings and we’re all pursuing something um it’s okay to be caught up in your own little world and be selfish at times um but I just thought you know what what a great what a great opportunity to honor Grayson and then kind of shift things maybe from selfless or selfish to selfless um and to uh kind of spread some love in the world through uh just some Simple Kindness day by day and Harry you and I both were friends with with Grayson and and I’m sure there’s maybe a story or a moment in your relationship with Grayson that maybe sticks out over the years is there anything that you could tell us about Grayson that that maybe people didn’t know about them or just something that that maybe you’ve had some reflection time to be like man I I either saw the signs or man you know what Grayson was such a great dude because he because he said this to me X day is there anything for you that that that comes to mind it wasn’t anything specific um and I you know I hadn’t seen Grayson in probably what two three years years he was yeah playing some on the corn Fury tour while I was on the PGA tour and then he had his success and we kind of flip-flopped right so oh that’s right that’s a good point you know it’s one of those things that if you’re not playing in the same tournaments you don’t really you don’t really see them you don’t really hear from them um I mean I don’t think the countless encounters that I have with him I don’t think he ever didn’t have a smile on his face um and then just like overall the way that he carried himself I know that obviously he was dealing with some was some difficult things um but man I he he never didn’t have a smile on his face and I really really appreciated um and it’s not really a laughing matter but I appreciated how open and honest he was I mean how difficult it must be obviously he had some success last year on the corn fairy tour uh and then end of this year uh on the PJ tour some unbelievable success and he at every turn used that moment to shed light on the struggles that he has had the struggles that others may be having um you know I that’s kind of what what ran through my head really even Saturday evening before obviously I was fortunate enough to win was like I mean if he can do that if he can shed light on his struggles and other struggles while he’s having success or while he’s not even having success I mean it was almost like he always referred it back to look I have struggled before I’m in a better place now um others are continually continuous struggling you know they need help people need help I just I found that obviously inspirational um so that that’s kind of what led me to uh take that moment it it you know it doesn’t need to be about me um it certainly was about me the just the week prior in Kansas City obviously winning in in my hometown there’s there’s no way around that um but uh yeah it doesn’t need to be about me it needs to be about others and then obviously with the sad news also needs to be about honoring Grayson um this last week yeah and the challenge that that you um you ask for for those listening to uh partake in is something that I I I fully believe in I try to do every day and will continue to try to do so thank you for putting those words in the air and I’ll uh try to follow up with you on this and uh you uh when I when I watched this video way back when you won I believe it was in Springfield is that correct when yeah you won in Springfield and I could just see the Joy on your mother’s face and your face you could definitely tell you’re a Mama’s Boy by the way that was pretty that was pretty obvious right from the get go but you just won uh at your hometown and I could tell how important your family is to you and going and looking at just where you grew up and I didn’t realize you were born uh in New Jersey but live in Kansas uh you grew up in in Kansas City and now you live in Dallas you went to SMU so there’s a lot of lot of crazy like factors here so he’s got an Eagles fan yeah oh yeah but that that grew up in Kansas but you live in Dallas now and now we have the Stars you got the Mavs is what where are we in the Sports World with Harry hes because you know you got so many different trees pulling you in yes the uh the Philadelphia Eagles there is no waiver there um I am I am not a Chiefs fan I am not a Cowboys fan there is no waiver there um and we did uh my my now wife uh obviously her family all of the friends of mine growing up in high school are massive Chiefs fans so the Eagles and the Chiefs a couple years ago in the Super Bowl was tough yep um that was that was one that I would have really liked to have won not that I had you know say I would have won it I didn’t have anything to do with it oh no it’s you it’s you well I mean a point 1% maybe yeah there you go but yeah in terms of uh we’re going to go to to the game what is it game five um what’s today Wednesday we’re going to go to the game here the starts game Friday night uh okay in terms of all the others I would wholeheartedly hand up I am as fair weather as it gets I’ll be rooting on the Mavs yeah um I’ll be rooting on the Stars much like I would be if the you know Sixers were winning or the Flyers were winning I’d be rooting them on um just a good Hometown guy yes I I’ll go Hometown on everything other than football the uh the Eagles are I I guess you’d say I bleed green through and through I mean there’s no as I’m sure most everybody if they’ve obious encountered an Eagles fan um or maybe seen what some Eagles fans are capable of there is no waiver there um so yeah it’s uh Eagles are bust and then I’ll be a fair weather fan just about everything else well I wore my Pine Valley hat today and support your Philadelphia Eagles I’ve got a little bit of coffee in a Pine Valley cup too sure why wouldn’t you why wouldn’t you yeah so I had definitely had to wear a little bit of Philly gear just to make you feel comfortable here on the podcast today but uh you know I I’m really curious to so how did you end up at SMU like that’s you know you have all these different ways of where you could have gone and how’d you end up in Dallas probably just dumb luck you know how it kind of goes I mean you experienced it um I was fortunate to be recruited by I don’t know 10 10 ish programs and then you know as I get older and older and you know High School it kind of continues and it continues Recruitment and phone calls and letters and everything um and then the coach of the time here at SMU Jay lore um who was just there for my first year while I was in school he was the only one that came up and visited Us in Kansas City at our at our house um I remember we finished dinner and I didn’t know where I was going to go to school or anything like that you know it was my probably the fall of my senior year um and we finished dinner and he just asked will you you know come play for come play for me and and come to school at SMU and I just kind of thought in my head real briefly that well yeah of course I will you’re the only one that’s made all this effort to come up here I mean I’m not going to I’m not going to disappoint you and make you go all the way home um and then yeah when you do show up to school you never really know I don’t think at least for a CP C years if you made the right decision um but I certainly found uh early on that I did make the right decision and then you know post school it just makes so much sense to stay here in Dallas obviously it’s a little M Central nicer yeah nicer weather than Kansas City although we get some weird kind of crappy days in the winter um but yeah the dumb luck of how easy it is to travel out of here that obviously even throughout College I didn’t realize because all we had to do was show up on time to the airport I wasn’t booking any of the flights then but it’s nice that there are next to none uh kind of destinations that I would have to stop or connect in it’s almost I get almost anywhere in the world non-stop which which makes it a little bit easier yeah totally and and the coach the rest of your time there was it was Josh Gregory correct yes y my his three years at SMU were my last three so Jay Jay was great I really appreciated him uh you know obviously in his recruitment Jay was a little older and at times maybe harder for me personally to not get along with we got along with great but kind of I guess for me to kind of process his me message to me about how he thinks that I should get better and and then it was it was just the total opposite uh with Josh he was I mean just the fact that he was younger he had recently just won two national championships at Augusta which makes it a little easier to I guess listen for some young dumb kid that thinks he knows everything um and then yeah I I was uh I was very fortunate with all the coaches I had um High School College you know even post college that they were always pushing me to be better and I got a ton of great information from them that you know I still used to this day yeah and I go back and look at pictures from that team and you see a lot of familiar faces you know you see Josh craigory who who coached Patrick Reed he coaches so many tour players on the PGA tour now uh whether it’s their short game their their their long game it’s their performance side so Josh Gregory obviously one of the better coaches probably ever to coach in college in my in my opinion yeah I would say in I’m a homer but I’d say in golf in general uh especially with the success he’s had you know post leaving SMU it it’s yeah I mean see you have a guy like Josh Gregory who is an incredible coach and then but you look at the rest of your team you’re like okay recognize that guy R dambo and then Austin Smotherman there’s Harry higs and I I just think about being in a atmosphere like that which is you know you have a lot of different personalities Bryson is I can’t imagine is the perfect college golf teammate because he’s he’s wired totally differently than probably anybody you’ve ever met but I’m sure there are things that you’ve learned while you’re in school from Bryson that made you better and then probably things that Bryson learned from somebody like you who’s really relaxed really chill hey let’s just go play golf I mean what what practice does Harry higs need to do I’m just gonna go make birdies where Bryson I’m sure how many times did y’all need to take different Vans and buses just to make sure that he wasn’t practicing till the uh till the end of the day right countless times um it was it was eye opening and I was two years older than both Bryson and Austin um so I just had two years with him and I was kind of you know at that time the Elder Statesman on the team and as I’m sure you could imagine I certainly would voice my opinions on some things uh maybe more often than I should um in terms of Bryson as a teammate I mean he really was great you know he was super young super into just his golf um so it was like it was always odd for me I mean it felt like he never turned it off and it’s like man why don’t you also enjoy you know this great school we go to you know your teammates everybody else um and then over time we got him to show up more and more to some you know team dinners team Hangouts uh and I really enjoyed my two years with Bryson in terms of what I learned from him um it was like just blanket simply work ethic because it just never stopped um he was very driven to be the best golfer in the world when he showed up at SMU at you know 18 um another thing was he just really couldn’t be budged obviously he does things different you know single length irons um you know just kind of the way he attacks the game and how he approaches getting better at it um he couldn’t really be influenced um he stuck to his guns and and it was you know if he was going to make it work we did his freshman year we got him for like three months to use a just a normal length lob wedge the wedges were the part that I never really understood they’re just so long and it’s you know it just becomes a little harder to Chip and control your distances on dist distance wedges and the like he did I’d say for about three months he used a normal length lob wedge and then he just said like I’m going to go back to what I know and and he worked I mean tirelessly to master it I mean he was always chipping always just trying to find a way to use what you know a l wedge that was I think it was always like 7even and A2 iron length um it it was really pretty incredible man uh and he pushed me not directly but indirectly to to work harder and harder and harder and then obviously he was a world beater when he showed up and had great success in college so selfishly for me you know it’s like I’m the old guy I’m I want to I want to be the guy here uh which I never was he was always way better than I was um but uh selfishly it just got to the point where it was like all right well if I just beat Bryson I mean I’m going to I’m going to at least finish in the top five yeah I’m going to have a chance to win so he motivated uh in a kind of shown way you know show the example of how to work hard how to prepare um whereas maybe I would motivate some of the guys and I don’t pretend that I had much of an effect but I would motivate more as the tell though I’m going to tell you how to do this um but yeah man I really enjoyed I really enjoyed my time at you I I definitely think had I I would like to think had I gone somewhere else I would still be able to be sitting here talking to you having had some modum of success in professional golf but I think SMU was was massive for me um in the relationships that I made with my teammates my coaches and even the folks here in Dallas that were crucial in helping me play professional golf when there was no money in it uh you know mini tour stuff and whatnot um I’ve got some I’ve got a great support system um that extends far and wide uh both in Kansas City and here in Dallas yeah I played with uh you guys in SMU at Cabo one year at coren I’m not sure if you were playing that week I was paired with Austin Smotherman and he hit every single Fairway I’m like this guy doesn’t miss the middle of the face he he doesn’t I don’t think he has since um he’s pretty impressive and he was he was always he was always so much fun to be around I Austin is at Trinity Forest here with me as well now so I see Austin all the time um he is so good he is I really truly feel like he is he’s obviously much like everybody else just trying to navigate professional golf and find ways to get better little bits here and there but I would say he is somebody that I would highlight and circle um he gets a couple good results and just gets some confidence in his abilities and I think this Sky’s limit for him yeah I couldn’t agree more he’s an a tremendous ball Striker and and will you just refresh my memory just about Bryson’s game in in college and amateur golf because he’s been in like all these different zones in which he was the short guy that hit it really straight then he was a beefy dude that hit it long now he’s kind of a mix of both yeah and when he got to college was it like his iron game was what was so dang good right he just hit exactly where he was looking I think we had he was definitely not long not like he is now yeah um I think we would like we would go to tournaments right let’s say we went to five tournaments in in 8 weeks and we would all play a practice round together and you’d stand on a te and it’s okay well our Target is you know that tree out in the distance and then you’d hit stand there on the approach and it’s like hey when the kind of thinking about what it’s going to be like in the tournament okay that flag’s going to be back right we we don’t want to maybe that’s not one we attack we’re going to just keep it in line with the other tree you know 15 feet left of it and I swear man for months on end whatever you wherever you told him that it was GNA go it just went there yeah it was I mean and I know that he’s he’s done some swinging I guess robotically and some studying but it was it was robot golf it was unbelievable um and then if he ever you know chipped and putted halfway decent he had a chance to win um it was it was remarkable he he early on I think his freshman year Midway through his sophomore year he probably had I don’t up towards of 10 top 10 um and he just needed to kind of not be so hard on himself right not get so frustrated if things didn’t go his way uh and then once he kind of understood the mental side of the game and and was working on that boom he just started winning everything um so it was it was impressive man he uh he he could make you feel like how am I ever going to beat this guy um and I had I got him a couple times but um yeah heck yeah was so impressive oh the big rig is a heck of a player himself don’t don’t let him short you here because this guy can play and when you got out into the PGA Tour uh can you just talk a little bit about those first couple years what because you had some success don’t get me wrong but when you showed up out there did you feel ready to go did you feel like you could win um and just yeah anything you may have learned in those first couple years I I would say those first couple years yeah man I was my mind went to you know before my first year on the PJ tour 2019 I believe you know I had done two years the PJ tour Latin America year on the corn FY tour a couple years of mini tour golf and had just kind of seen this like steady Ascent uh certainly my game had gotten better every year but yeah by the time I got I got out on tour it’s like well none of these guys did the hard stuff like I did which is untrue most of them did the hard stuff but my mind went to well none of these guys did went to these places that I went and yada yada yada um so yeah it just gave me like almost a shot of confidence kind of the Avenue that I took to get there and uh you know it was nice also I mean early on I think my first handful of events I finished in the top 20 top 10 um finished second in Bermuda um my first fall which was you know boom very eye it was also eye opening that I teed off with a two shot lead I believe it was a two-shot lead I shot three under and lost by four or five to brenon Todd who shot 6 welome to Pro Golf right yeah that was like oh wow okay yeah this is I no offense to Brendon Todd who’s now a friend but I was like I didn’t even really know who this guy was and he was 10 under through 11 I mean was whoa uh yeah I realized quickly how hard it was to win um but yeah I mean I I had I would have said you know I had much more confidence in my abilities and kind of what I did and how I prepared and how I played the game my first two years um and then the next you know the next couple years where I struggled a little bit more I maybe didn’t have the same confidence in my abilities because I I let myself get too down on myself um with some of the results that I had you know it’s okay man it’s hard you’re going to well I mean it’s you’re going to miss a couple cuts in a row where you felt like you played some good golf or you know you felt like you played really awesome golf but you only finished 40th um you know I kind of lost the uh I lost the positivity and eternal optimism that I almost always had um and that that led me to struggle a little bit and I think it prolonged my struggle as well um in those kind of second couple years um and it does it does feel like now I kind of snapped out of that and I need to remember to seems so just yeah not let it get not let it get back to that spot you know um I I show up to golf tournaments as ridiculous as it may sound to to win I prepar to win so just get out of your own damn way and you know let’s see what happens in in those first couple years I was actually uh reading this app this article that Gabby herck wrote about you uh I’m not sure if it was last year but uh the very end of the article was it was a really great story about Pebble Beach in which you bogey the last hole and you end up making a big paycheck which is something that if you’ve ever gotten the text of a big paycheck from the PGA Tour it’s like okay this is pretty sweet where were you when you got that text and tell us a little bit about the cookies yeah it was that was probably my like sixth or seventh event um maybe eight whatever it was you know early part of my my rookie season and I was having a nice I was having a nice Sunday I had a good week all week and a nice Sunday it was a very difficult day at Pebbles was pretty firm pretty windy um and I think I was maybe a couple under par through 17 had teed off in like 25th and moved up to I think I was in the top 10 uh and just striped it down the Fairway underneath huge just past the damn tree um and so birdie you think an e now it’s like in my mind I’m just gonna like I didn’t have a great lie underneath the tree obviously it’s shaded the grass doesn’t grow as well not under sunglasses weeses yeah yeah the shade and me and the sunglasses um and I’m just kind of in my mind like ah the slide’s not great you know it’s kind of in off the right I’m just going to like hit a low almost choppy three-wood into the front bunker for the front flag I’m in I’m going to get it up and down and I’m going to finish maybe you know anywhere from 5th to 8th um and we have obviously a long way at Pebble there a I’m going to force them without anys yeah but there’s a there’s some AMS chopping it up up there on on you know on the Green in front of us and it takes freaking forever and uh so time comes to hit the shot and I chunk hook it in the water um and then I guess after that I drop and hit like a six iron on the green and make a pretty decent six you’d say that’s a great six yeah and I’m kind of you know obviously bummed out and I’m we staying um in Carmel uh and I go back and I’m not leaving till the next day I think I’m going to Phoenix the next day um and I kept going over right right next to our hotel is this Market that made you know had like readymade food and sandwiches and it was great so I just wore it out all week so I go there and it’s you know 2 o’l in the afternoon and I’m I grab a sandwich and I’m waiting to check out and I’m still just kind of fuming and fuming and fuming and leave you know check out buy the sandwich leave and in parking lot there’s these two you know they’re probably 10-year-old girls selling Girl Scout cookies obviously if you’ve ever seen me in person one would assume that I I enjoy cookies and I especially enjoy girl SC cookies um and I just gotten done paying the locker room guys at Pebble and I I it’s like I’m going to buy I’ll buy some girl scy cookies why not the only thing in my wallet was a $100 bill and it’s like well regardless of you know how much money I just burned by chunk hooking in in the Pacific um let’s maybe let’s try to brighten up these girls day and give them a hundred bucks and I I got two boxes of the I don’t know what they’re called but they’re kind of like the Reese’s ones the chocolate peanut butter with some wafer in it yeah uhhuh they’re my favorite and uh handed the girls the $100 bill um and I remember vividly one of the girls walking over to her mom and and saying you know uh what do we do what do we do this guy just gave us a hundred like as if you know okay well we have to calculate the change and I you know obviously just said no it’s for you guys to keep you can split it thank you so much and made the short walk back to my hotel crush the sandwich I think in the at the time I crushed the sandwich I ate almost one full box of the Girl Scout cookies as well I turned the golf on and I realized like 18 that day is playing the hardest it’s ever played it’s averaging like 5.6 um so yeah I went from after making bogey I think I went from like 22nd all the way up to like 15 uh and then shortly after that I obviously get the text that I make a whole bunch of money um and I was good uh the Girl Scout movie certainly helped uh 96,000 I think I read yeah I mean it’s like that’s plenty that is plenty um I can do a lot with that I don’t do really anything with it but I if I wanted to I could um yeah did you go back and buy more Girl Scout cookies right after you got the T no I didn’t I figured two boxes was enough cuz I’m pretty sure I think there might have been like maximum three or four left when I left the next morning in one of the boxes one of the boxes had totally been crushed um yeah I didn’t need any more Girl Scout cookies that’s for damn sure oh car and the big rig is his nickname we saw this physique come out at the Waste Management Phoenix Open this is where I tell people all the time you know I won on the PGA tour and I won um and and ient became very well-liked because of the spring break stuff but man you became an internet sensation after this Waste Management Phoenix Open talk to us about how it started the night before and then you and Joel Damon y’all just schemed up just great television yeah well I’ll give you the full rundown if you’re okay yeah if you’re okay with this might take 20 minutes to get through um so this starts I I think I was maybe four or five under uh after Friday and this starts on Friday because I get paired Friday night we get a text with Keith Mitchell and somebody else I think we were still in threesums um and Keith immediately upon us getting our tea time text realizes we’re together he says you know this is we have to do something we have to do something on 16 and then you know I say Obviously Keith I’m so excited um sure Bud whatever you think we can have a little bit of fun on 16 yada yada y um about 15 minutes later he goes why don’t you just take your shirt off and I immediately say no I’m not doing that I’m not and then he thought I was worried about the fine um so then he spent the whole evening and the better part of the next day Saturday morning raising money from my fellow tour players to pay my fine it’s like dude I’m not worried about the fine um I don’t want to be the guy that took his shirt off on 16 at Scottdale uh to hasten the story up just a little bit I played very poorly on Saturday as you can see now Joel and I are teaming up in a Tome off 10 on Sunday um I played poorly on Saturday I’ll never forget we got to that tea and I I think I just birdied 15 to get the honor from Keith and whoever else was with us and I teed off and I hit it on the green probably like 20 ft and I remember then he goes and I’m just standing over by my bag and he kind of walks he hits and hits a decent shot and walks back to his bag and he’s staring at me like you remember what I said we’re going to do no words were spoken but I could tell by the look that he was trying to get me to do it and I was just shaking my head doing this like no no chance not doing it not doing it so I did I walked up there and I T puted and we went about our day fast forward you know I’m now in 60th someplace and the text comes in Saturday night that I am paired with just Joel Damon uh last group off the 10th on Sunday and then Joel doesn’t which is a death yeah it’s a very very long day Joel uh Joel doesn’t go do it as direct as Keith does uh Joel about an hour after we we realize we’re playing together he we hadn’t spoken or nothing and I see that he has tweet tweeted if this gets enough retweets or likes you know Harry higs is going to give the people what they want and take his shirt off on 16 and I I didn’t even text him nothing you know I saw him the next morning and I’m like dude really why why you got to do that I’m not doing this I’m never doing this I will never ever ever ever do it he’s just pling the seed he is and he was trying to be all Koy that you know I well I didn’t put a number to it we could have said it needed a million retweets to do it it’s like dude come on so we’re last off freaking 10 uh Tome and I remember teeing off hitting the Fairway going about our day uh and then by the time we got to the 10th green so we had what five holes until we got to 16 um or maybe six holes I’m not great at math uh and by every by the time we got to the 10th green every green and te I mean multiple people but at least someone was screaming out did it get enough retweets are you guys going to do it take your shirt off take your shirt off and everybody around that I could hear that said it and then I know if I noticed them I was just saying no absolutely not I never will uh we get to 16 and they’re all chanting take your shirt off take your shirt off show some skin show some skin um Joel goes first hits a great shot I’m all amped up and I fly it over the green uh this is a freaking putt for par that you guys are seeing uh this is not for birdie no this is a par I made a par on the hole so I’m I Juice It Up I don’t think I flew the green I think I one hopped over the green I get back there and I have a really poor lie I ain’t chipping it in front of all these people so I grab my putter whack it up there make sure I get it at least onto the green uh obviously what goes about 12 feet Joel’s shot had ended literally on the same line about a foot further away so Joel goes first Joel leaves it short from about 13t for birdie um and I had some Choice words for him under our breath you know that only us could hear and then so now it’s my turn right I’ve got a 12 some odd foot whatever it is putt for par for freaking par and as I I’m reading the Putt and as I get over it everybody is just chanting take it off or show some skin right the whole I mean it’s 30,000 people just chaining one thing um the problem was that as soon as I hit the putt after getting to see a little bit of the line U from Joel as soon as I hit the putt I knew it was in the hole and I swear to you it took what felt like two minutes for me for it to go in so I swear I felt like I had two minutes to decide In This Moment Like are you going to do this are you actually going to do this no way I’m going to do this I’m not going to do this I told everybody I wouldn’t do this I don’t want to be the guy that does does this H maybe I will do it no maybe I won’t maybe I will maybe I won’t uh and then obviously as it’s dropping I just And to clarify as you can see I never actually took mine off I only lifted my shirt um but I obviously lifted my shirt and then kudos to Joel after I go and get my ball out of the hole I turn around uh and he is what a good friend fully take taken his shirt off uh so he’s a good man he did not let me he did not let me do that alone U we enjoyed it and it’s really about this time we realized obviously there’s beers flying it’s like oh we got to get off this hole this is not this is not really that safe uh yep and then we just kind of mosy through the tunnel on 17 we uh we put our clothes back on uh and we finished the rest of the day oh God man Harry that is an alltime I mean it’s it’s an alltime it’s it’s a top five moment on the PJ tour whether people like it or not I me it’s just it’s the I mean it’s Christopher noan couldn’t have directed this better than this it’s just beautiful probably not they we get into the tunnel too and uh Joel’s got the Netflix people following him and we kind of stop and literally Joel has to put his clothes back on we have to like button our you know tuck our shirts in do our belts up and the Netflix guys uh after the round said look guys we you know we’ve been following this was the first year that we’ve been following it for two months uh we never thought we would hear two players while playing a golf tournament say oh [ __ ] we need to put our clothes back on um so they they had a good bit of fun with I mean we all had a good bit of fun with it it was for a while there it annoyed me also that you know as the year went on people would ask it’s like guys I’m not doing that I’m never doing it again and I would never do it anywhere other than there anyway I mean I was I was peer pressured by Keith and Joel but also 30,000 people that were in the stands like if you don’t have 30,000 people surrounding a hole there’s no chance that I ever do this I’m not doing it when there’s 10 people around I mean and I will not hand of God will not ever do that again well I think that’s why you go no buttons on the shirt just to give us a little skin just a taste of what what has happened and what potentially could be I don’t need to leave anything to imagination anymore everybody’s seen it uh but yes it was uh it turned out to be a pretty wild day Round of Applause so so good that’s why everybody loves big rig it’s uh pretty incredible and and and you talked right before we got into all this just the expectations kind of you put on yourself yeah um and you know you didn’t play your best golf in the years after whether it was expectations or that positive mindset that you carried into uh the golf course which made you successful for those first couple years um in the Years leading up to the PGA Tour and you talked about kind of what you learned and I think showing up to the corn fairy tour this year you probably said to yourself I need to either change my mindset change either what I’m doing uh because I can’t continue to try to be perfect because that’s just not who I am uh that’s pretty much exactly it um and you know look I’ve been working on it to try to snap out of the struggles um that I was having but I for whatever reason I just it didn’t really click um until and look I even had a few struggles on the corn fairy tour U earlier in the year uh super early in the year and the Bahamas I played okay and then I just I didn’t really have all the skills that I wanted to have um in a couple of the Latin America events and I think it was savan you know played really pretty poorly and that was the time where it was like all right we just like I I missed I missed what three Cuts in a row by a by five or six and it’s just like shaking my head I’m so much better than that even when I’m not when I don’t come with all the skills that I’d like to come like I am I still just and again you don’t want to attach it to a result and a number but I still should be able to compete and and try to have the highest finish possible come Sunday um yeah so that was yeah and then I had a little bit of time off um you know wasn’t in a few events didn’t play a couple corn Fair events didn’t get into some of the PJ tour events um and and I guess just got to kind of thinking and kind of you know preparing what am I going to do certainly my my skills you know full swing driving short game putting everything else was you know improving there was a lot of hard work put into it and then yeah Kansas City a couple weeks ago was just like you’re right man I feel like I am prepared like I everything is in a good spot and I am prepared to play and compete to win and I did man I I it was Thursday afternoon I remember finishing up my warm up and just walking the very short distance over the first hole it was like okay I’m I’m ready I’m ready to play some good golf and then I just had the brief thought that’s like let’s jot down a few things that I’m going to do that have nothing to do with the result um that I would like to accomplish over the next four days um wrote those down teed off looked you know just in my yardage looked at them almost every other Hole uh um and just tried to stay kind of I guess quote unquote true to that um and I saw that I wrote uh the first one was each shot needs to have a clear intent MH um second was the there needs to be a rehearsal to match that intent you know kind of this is all pre-shot uh God what was the third don’t take your shirt off yeah don’t take don’t take my freaking shirt off um the fourth was except why am I forgetting the third oh third was positive thought I need to have a positive thought whether it be a recall that I’ve hit a shot like this already before um or just like plainly and simply what I want to have happen is going to happen um or I’m the best something positive before before I walk in and hit it and then the fourth was accept um and then I added uh Sunday I had a chance to win and obviously I’m super nervous there’s this is the town I grew up in you know this is 10 minutes from home I have countless people here supporting me so I’m super nervous don’t want to let them down uh I wrote down kind of two footnotes was remember to breathe and that this is a marathon and not a Sprint you know as you know Smiley you’re a winner you that Sunday man even when you have a great chance or you know you run them down from behind like so much can happen in 18 holes of golf so you got to just kind of stay locked in and include in um obviously that was some version of a blueprint and I ran it back last week as well um and I was I was super proud of myself last week even more so I would have said I did a much better job um I would have said if those four things that I did I would have graded it solidly at a B in Kansas City there were a few shots that made maybe I was a little waffly on intent maybe a few shots that I had a couple negative thoughts creep in that I didn’t you know kind of let pass and then add a positive right before I hit it uh but this last week I I did uh I I I would have said I was in the a range where there might have been one or two where I didn’t have intent uh and then I started Saturday this last week I lost the ball left in the rough made double um and was like totally at peace with it which it was not it’s not normal for me and I was like okay well this is just part of the story I’m still going to win this golf tournament but this is just part of the story and then I was bummed out I didn’t uh I didn’t close the deal in regulation um had a putt from probably 60 some odd feet if I’m down and down and two for birdie I win um and like again I was totally at peace the two holes in the practice round other than the fact that it was part five straight up the hill and I was pretty tired of walking it um yeah I was like totally cool with whatever happens like if I get beat great if I if I win great um I’m just going to this is another couple holes where I get to kind of test myself and see how good I can do in kind of staying in my own little uh my own little world my own little bubble and let’s check off the things on my list and see what happens and you know there was some magic that happened both weeks and I think that was just because I was in a good a good frame of mind we got to roll in this magic because yeah it’s a shame this wasn’t on live TV because it’s probably one of the better shots uh hit on an 18th hole and this was to force a playoff correct here yes yes at the time I was three back um what I did not know was that the the guy that was winning had just bogeyed 17 um so now that this goes in we wind up T we wind up tying which this is a lot of luck yeah and you need a lot of luck as you know Smiley to win yes uh this is like the all time how far is this I think it was about 83 I had paced off about 70 where I wanted to land it just below a ridge and then run it up there and then it landed what in a world yeah it landed about 15 short of where I thought um it was the worst lie that I had uh all week in the rough and I was just I was trying to keep having a positive thought but my really my positive thought was just like big swing let’s try to get it to land on the green and get it back in the little area where the flag was because if I get it up and down you know I’m going to finish in a tie for second um so I take a big old swing and I as soon as I hit it I’m yelling go go go land on the green land on the green it lands it just keeps going it lands on the green I know it’s going to have a ton of Top Spin and I can kind of see it as it crests the hill um like okay it’s at least in the it it’s at least in the same area same level as the hole you know I should have I figured it was going to be about 8 feet short because I landed at about 15 Paces short of where I wanted to um and uh they I mean there were some Grand Sands surrounding it and uh everybody the cheers get louder and louder and louder and we’re walking up and in my mind it’s just like why are they still getting louder I mean this has got to be short it’s got to land short uh and sure enough it kind of crescendos obviously into just a massive Roar and I believe as I’m high five in Irwin it was like holy that actually went in went in yeah oh I didn’t know you had Matt cenny for him he’s the best he’s Cy for Tom love lady yes yes we’ve got some good Tom stories oh I bet we’ve gotten some good time stories yeah I mean that was I mean it’s dumb luck right I mean it’s and then I was fortunate that uh Tanner Gore was his name uh and all credit to him Monday qualifier had a two- shot lead I think he went out and shot three under you know just dumb luck like this running him down and catching them um yeah but uh yeah that’s kind of the stuff you need to maybe get your career back on track and and certainly just to win one week you need some help and if I can make any recommendation to the Blue Hills Country Club let’s put a plaque there let’s just put a plaque there right at the Fairway 18 this is where Harry higs missed the number by 10 yards and made an eagle to event Force the play now that you say it it wouldn’t shock me that uh hopefully I’m not there for the tournament ever again you know that’s kind of how it goes when you went on the corn tour like hey we don’t want to ever see you again but I will be at Blue Hills many many times uh yeah I wouldn’t be shocked if there is something there that’s a little remembrance maybe cut the cut the rough too that was there God it was a bad lie I’ve got some real good luck with lies that was tell yeah that was not one of them when you took that big swing I was like oh that is uh that’s the old knuckle ball sandwich and and last theatrics we got to show is in the playoff that 18th hole in Knoxville 18th green Eagle putt closed the show what happened on this one well I had hit it basically in the same spot that was the third attempt that I’d had it each one was getting a little closer the first one in regulation was in The Fringe the next one was about 10t behind that that I could not believe didn’t go in I didn’t have it like just wiggling left at the end uh and then that one obviously drops um so I knew the read and I was this green this green is crazy they had this they had four pins in the same basically three yard wide radius um and I would say that putt is probably uh it flattens out more towards the hole but it’s probably a six s% slope the whole way down so it’s a wild putt you just literally get it started uh and there’s not much break it just kind of like Wiggles back and forth both ways so each time that I hit it it looks like it’s going to go in the hole um the first the first time I almost degreened it in regulation uh the uh the second time maybe a little too hard just misread this little like left wiggle um right at the hole and then that one was just on the right Edge just on the right Edge and I’m just standing there watching it like all right if it does what it just did this is in and sure enough it just just nods left and catches the uh catches the hole it was nice to get that one in cuz uh Frankie had probably 13 14 feet he hit a great two shots uh for Eagle now he had I mean he had to play about four or five feet of break so it was not a it was not an easy putt to hold um but it was yeah man I guess I got a flare for the dramatic uh these last couple weeks let go Harry back to back it’s been Wild and the only thing that could stop him was just a little procedure on the side of his face that you can see here yes you can still see it I’m sure yes we can definitely still see it it’s it’s right on the uh the west coast of South America right now all right so you’re close to the battlefield uh promotion winning one more time you’re out on the PGA tour for the rest of the year how do you how do you navigate the rest of the year because I imagine you’re going to probably have some opportunities to play on the PGA tour with your status as well as sponsors invites how are you gonna fig you know because you can either go eggs all in one basket let’s just try to get this win try to get number one on the corn fairy tour points list which gives you into the players I think it there’s other things too yeah yeah so I mean where where’s your mind stand on this yeah I I would say I really haven’t decided just yet um but certainly I would say that I have to you know continue to play the corn fairy tour with the goal of finishing number one um at the end of the season because it’s one versus two is rewarded a whole lot different um you know two to two to 10 is about the same darn thing umh minus maybe one or one or two more starts based on obviously your position um my uh I was we were just married a little over three weeks ago now and my goal congrats thank you my goal post marriage was to have on either tour have some great results to kind of sh up my my playing status for next year and then uh take a honeymoon not like most golfers do which is always has to be in December because that’s when we’re not play my yeah it’s not I mean you got to go somewhere it’s and I’ve never been to Europe Smiley so my goal was to uh have some great weeks and uh start playing a honeymoon and maybe just vanish for two weeks um so we’re going to do that we’re going to we’re looking at kind of the middle weeks of July we’ve already started a little bit of planning um great but in that that does still allow me I think two or three more corn fairy starts and then maybe I do maybe play uh I think I’ll be close to getting in on my number and I would assume I have a decent chance of getting an exemption now uh maybe Detroit and John Deer and then just kind of vanish for two two and a half weeks uh and then rest recharge obviously enjoy the life that I’m going to you know have started with my new wife um and then uh get back and then I’ll probably hunker down and play the corn Fair tour and try to try to get that number one spot um but yeah I mean it’s it’s obviously nice to these results I remember my wife uh went in Kansas City and you know hug and kiss off the green after I won and then she she said does this mean we get to do the do the honeymoon now and I was like yeah you know I might need one more result to really lock this in uh and then sure enough the next week I went again and I remember grabbing my phone before all the all the hoopla starts and texed her in explo two I said let’s plan that bleep in honeymoon uh let’s go so we’re gonna we’re going to enjoy that for sure um but yeah I maybe do one or two PJ tour events I would imagine I’ll get some in the some starts in the fall too um but uh try to get that number one spot because it gets rewarded very very nicely it sure does and you just got to love it when a good plan comes together and congrats to you and your bride as well I know that’ll be a very fun honeymoon Europe’s great and I think Europe will be excited to see a very nice deep v-neck and some rayb bands of Harry higs making his way down and probably eating some nice thin crust pizza over there yeah I my uh the only thing that I wanted out of the honeymoon was I wanted to eat a bowl of pasta bowl of pasta in Italy which I would assume also you know there’s there’s some pizza involved too but yeah we we we’ll we’ll take the parmesan cheese yeah little bit of that a little bit of pepper on there too we’ll take red pepper you sure come on little little white red wide to pair it with yeah why not yep yeah I’m not even a big blind guy but I could see myself drinking plenty of it in the the roughly two plus weeks that we’re there we’re going to try to make a stop at Wimbledon 2 I’ve never done that oh good for yall yeah it’s uh it’ll be a lot of fun it it’ll be a lot of fun I’ve never I mean I’ve been playing professional golf for 10 years I’ve never taken voluntarily taken two plus weeks off in the middle of a season but boy am I excited to do that go do it man get that face all healed up and covered look a lot better by them yeah go play well the next couple weeks months and uh we we’ll definitely be watching cheering you on and we look forward to seeing that picture of a bowl of pasta on your Instagram yes that will be bowl of pasta glass of red wine Perfect all right Harry thanks for coming on buddy play well thank you appreciate it smiley man what a fun conversation with Harry higs spanning so many different directions I was just sitting in the background enjoying every moment of that going from you know some truly heartfelt thoughts on on Grayson Murray and I love the his addendum to what he originally said in the wake of his win at the visit Knoxville open of just saying something nice to yourself as well so I thought that was really cool and then going from Girl Scout cookies to uh to the W reliving that I mean just he just is such a fun conversation so very appreciative to Harry for taking the time uh but now we transition to as promised and our our our episode open the week our RBC Canadian open one and done picks we did not file at that moment I just wasn’t I wasn’t ready I I’ve have two Miss back toback miscuts now uh you’re you’re opening up a little bit of a lead here you got 22.3 points last week for Justin Rose I got zero for Austin necro so you now have 2,391 points and change and I have 2,152 so it’s a it’s a close Gap and I need another win so here let let me start us here okay I’m going to give you everybody on this odds board that’s 30 to1 and uh shorter start did you see Rory’s odds compared to the next best I sure did those look like Scotty odds to me it’s like plus 350 plus 400 and the next gu’s plus 16 plus 18 I think that’s correct so we’ll work our way down from 30 to1 Adam Scott is 30 to1 Sam Burns 25 to1 cam young 25 to1 Shane Lowry 25 to1 Alex noren 22 to1 uh Cory Connors 22 to1 siah theala 18 to1 Tommy Fleetwood 16 to1 and Rory Ma Roy plus 360 which is you know 3.6 to1 or however you want to quantify that it’s short it’s very very short uh so those are your kind of contenders uh I am picking first here I need a big momentum shift but I also need like an inspirational story I need something to get the the fans of Charlie Nation you know back believing again and here’s how I’m going to do it uh we saw Tommy Fleetwood come up oh so short last year and this event in the playoff in search of that first PGA Tour win uh I’m I’m believing this year this is the year when Tommy lad is going to get it done get his first PGA Tour win I’m taking Tommy Fleetwood to win the Canadian open okay I love it I love that you love it yeah I love I love it when although to be fair I think you’ve said you love it to every pick I’ve made thus far uh which is very kind of you and gracious but I’m not so sure it’s it’s actually compliment these days so it’s a good piit I I’ve already taken Tommy uh so he wasn’t even on my board of guys I was considering even though he’s second or third on the odds board uh but a good pick I I think the the hard thing about the RBC Canadian open is that the courses change and that I think we kind of group players into what their strengths are versus what the course uh you know fits as far as what their games uh go but I mean I feel like Tommy’s game fits just about anywhere he goes he’s played well in Canada so I like your pick well there you have it so now we have to figure out what who was who was your pick I’m I’m between three guys and I’m between Shane Lowry who in 2019 finished second Dory I’m between also Alex noren who is a player that you were surprised by his odds at 22 to1 he has been playing really well this year and I think the one thing that surprised me about his stats was that he’s leading the tour in bogy avoidance him and Scotty are like one two in that so he’s giving himself a lot of opportunities to make birdies if this the week that his putter let’s say gets hot um Alex norn could get it done um the other one is I just I keep this guy he just keeps stuffing the stat sheet and that’s Aaron Ry he’s he’s like the sixth man that just you know he’s he’s in the top 15 top 20 so often and I don’t think he’s been in enough in contention for people to have him as a guy that could win uh this week but if you go and look at his results and look at his stats he’s a guy that could just you know put it all together just really just a couple percentage points a little better in each area and he’s winning golf tournaments currently 35 to1 just outside that 30 to1 cut off yeah um I I think I’m going to settle in with with I I was going to pick Shane Lowry Aaron Ryan’s a guy that I would like to pick but I think I’m going to go with the safest option in Alex noren Alex noren love that I mean he’s a guy I have another format I play where you pick three guys and he’s one of the guys that I have in that collection because I just you know to your point he’s been playing really good so there you have it so Alex noron for Smiley uh Tommy Fleetwood for me uh we need some Mojo here here’s how I know the pcks have been going bad is that my my buddy who texts me every week for pcks is like sto texting me so it’s like it’s kind a little bit of a wake up call hey we need to get back on track here so uh those are your Canadian open uh picks and we’ll of course be back here with a a recap of the Canadian open on Sunday night and a recap of Hope Valley member member which by the way as you were doing the interview with Harry I wrote down his his little his little notes I’m gonna write those down on my little pin sheet every day try to stay in the zone and then give Harry a little credit if we get this thing done what happens if you’ve just been shanking wedges and you can’t think of a a positive outcome that’s the only thing I wanted to ask yeah I I know like staying positive gets hard when when you’re hitting it off the hosle I you know I I think I’m I’m going to put it out there in the universe I’m going be positive I think we’re past the wed Shanks we found something on the range of Sand Hills I I feel very very confident if we can just you know hit keep it a play off the te and just hit it close you know I’m getting a few shots just just get a few you know make par everywhere that’ll get you somewhere in this tournament so that that’s kind of the goal all right well I think it’s time for me Rosy’s uh ready to start playing my old golden retriever she said enough of this it’s time for Charlie to wrap this thing up and I got to go uh do the Zoomies with old Rosie girl let’s wrap it up if you’re listening to this it’s time for you to take your dog out for a walk and play fetch whatever it is you might do but we appreciate you watching and listening and we will be back here with the Canadian open recap very soon talk to you then you know I listen to this podcast it’s really cool and all our fans and subscribers but make sure you like And subscribe it’s cool to see what you guys are doing I know golf fans appreciate it but we we do too so please keep it up for all the good people YouTube like And subscribe you guys have some good takes so I’m happy to come on and and shoot the
1 Comment
Harry = awesome ambassador for the game. Let's go Higgsy! ✌️🪷⛳-Eric