My holiday wish for Harry Higgs.
I have but one golf wish for the holidays – that that the golfing gods spread their love toward Harry Higgs (TaylorMade TP5x) and gift him with a PGA tournament win, preferably sooner rather than later.
The man affectionally known as Big Rigg embodies a spirit and personality that makes him hard not to like. He also resembles what some pro golfers used to look like physically before physical fitness took over the sport. He carries added weight, to be exact, around his belly.
Think of former full-time PGA Tour players such as John Daly and Craig Stadler and you have the image of which I am speaking, but they could pack a punch with their paunch – which is to say they could win.
Higgs isn’t the only current PGA Tour player with a big girth. There are others such as Craig’s son, Kevin Stadler (Srixon Z Star XV), Jason Dufner (Titleist Pro V1x) and Jason Kokrak (Titleist Pro V1).
Higgs has recorded two professional wins, one of which is the Diners Club Peru Open on the PGA Latinoamerica Tour.
Perhaps it’s only fitting he won an event sponsored by Diners Club.
He is currently playing in his fourth season on the PGA Tour and has quite a following. It’s not just because of his weight, it’s also his demeanour. I don’t know of any other PGA Tour player who hasn’t won an event in North America and has commercials and sponsors. There’s a commercial that takes place at a PGA Tour Superstore and a golfer is looking at balls and says to himself, “So many choices.” Suddenly a box of TaylorMade TP5x balls falls off the shelf and there appear Higgs’ smiling face because he has pushed the box forward with a stick. He then walks by the golfer and says, “That’s what I play.”
Not the most complicated of commercials, but it fits with Higgs.
In another commercial at the Superstore, a woman see a man (who is Higgs) holding a Stealth driver.
“Where’d you get the Stealth?” she asks.
Higgs pulls out a yardage book and says, “Let me tell you.” He goes through his book and replies, “Twenty-two feet to the front and five to the left.”
The woman replies, “Nice read.”
In October 2020 he posted a video of himself on TikTok grooving and singing the Fleetwood Mac song Dreams, smiling and looking cool wearing sunglasses. The Dreams Challenge happened when a TikTok user uploaded a video of himself on a skateboard, drinking cranberry juice and grooving and singing Dreams. I’m not sure Higgs was on a moving skateboard, but the camera was moving. Hey, I’m not a Tik Tok user, but I’m sure there are creative ways to create motion.
This past July it was announced that Higgs was chosen as the ambassador for X-Golf, the North American indoor golf simulator entertainment concept.
Higgs has had two runnerup finishes since he joined the tour in 2019. He placed second that season in the Bermuda Championship and recorded a similar finish in the Safeway Open in 2020.
One of the local sports radio stations where I live in Toronto loves Higgs and tries to get an interview whenever possible. Let’s just say Higgs goes with the flow.
Last year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, he lifted up his shirt after making a birdie. His playing partner Joel Dahmen (Titleist Pro V1) one-upped him by peeling off his shirt. All of this was because the fans went wild after seeing two aces on the famous 16th hole, which has a grandstand. Sam Ryder (Srixon) recorded the first and fans responded by throwing beer cans. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The following day Carlos Ortiz (Titleist Pro V1x) duplicated the feat. I wonder if there will be rules put in place for the 2023 tournament, which runs February 9-12, to avoid tossing cans. It won’t be so funny if someone gets dinged with a can.
If Big Rigg wins the Phoenix Open, the golf world will go nuts. I just hope – no, I wish – that he wins any PGA Tour event soon while his star is on the rise.
