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On The Tee: Higgo breaks through as Stricker calls for end to US spat
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Matthew Hill
LiveScore
Garrick Higgo finished superbly to win his maiden PGA Tour title at the Palmetto Championship on Sunday
Garrick Higgo finished superbly to win his maiden PGA Tour title at the Palmetto Championship on Sunday

LiveScore’s resident golf expert Matthew Hill gets you up to date with all the latest goings-on in the golfing world. 

Higgo swoops late to land Palmetto

South African sensation Garrick Higgo landed the Palmetto Championship title on only his second PGA Tour start after long-term leader Chesson Hadley suffered a painstaking implosion. 

Higgo, still only 22, has been the breakout star of the European Tour this term with back-to-back wins in the Canary Islands and impressively made the cut at last month’s US PGA Championship. 

Yet few would’ve forecast the youngster translating his obvious talent into a victory on US soil so soon — especially when heading into the second half of his final round some way behind the leaders. 

All the Johannesburg-born star could do was attack the back nine and post a target, which he duly delivered via a blemish-free 32 that included a marvellous eagle on the par five 12th. 

Even when tapping in for his par on 18, Higgo’s fate was still out of his hands — eventually being crowned as the winner after long-time leader Hadley finished with a scarcely believable third straight bogey. 

“I'm just proud of the way I hung in there,” Higgo said. “It was tough all the way from the start and I definitely didn't have my A-game off the tee, but I like that sometimes. 

“I like not having to play perfect golf. I enjoy scrambling and making a couple of putts that I shouldn’t, which I did, so it was awesome.” 

The win means that Higgo is now eligible to play on the PGA Tour next season — though he doesn’t intend to completely abandon the stages that have proven his springboard to glory. 

He added: “My dream has always been to play on the PGA Tour permanently, so at the moment, I'll focus on that and see if I can keep going. 

“Obviously, I'll play on the PGA Tour for as long as I want, and hopefully I can play out here forever, but I'll still play in Europe for sure. 

"My focus is still Race to Dubai, see how I can finish on that, and then play a couple of Sunshine Tour tournaments as well. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here." 

Bogeys on the last three holes saw Chesson Hadley throw away his chance of a second PGA Tour title
Bogeys on the last three holes saw Chesson Hadley throw away his chance of a second PGA Tour title

It was a cruel collapse for Hadley however, who arrived at Congaree having missed eight cuts from 10 starts in 2021 but played quite magnificently until the business end of proceedings. 

“If I had shot 75 on the first round, then gone 65, 66, 68, I’d be feeling pretty tickled right now,” said the American. “But this one, you know, it sucks. 

“I can only imagine what it looked like on the TV because it looked freaking awful from my view. I mean I could barely keep it on the planet. 

“That 8 iron on the fairway on the last was just inexcusable. I didn’t have it today. It was bad and I have to do better — and I will.”

Stricker wants end to Bryson and Brooks feud

US Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker admitted this week that the ongoing social media feud between Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka ‘doesn’t make him happy’. 

Stricker, 54, is tasked with building a home side for Whistling Straights this September that can wrestle back the famous old trophy from the grip of Team Europe. 

And the 12-time PGA Tour winner admits he is likely to have both DeChambeau and Koepka in his ranks, despite the pair having been locked in a very public slinging match which all started following the leaking of an unaired post-round interview captured at the PGA Championship. 

In the video, Koepka shows visible irritation as DeChambeau walks behind him, suggesting the interview should be started again due to him losing his trail of thought before making an unsavoury comment about the Californian. 

From there, tongue-in-cheek tweets have been exchanged between the duo, while almost every press conference seems to bring fresh questions from journalists about the situation. 

For Stricker, it’s something he could do without as he looks to improve on a recent American record of only two wins in the last 10 Ryder Cup clashes. 

“It doesn’t make me happy when I see these guys going back and forth on social media,” Stricker said. “Two very competitive guys, two guys that want to play at the highest level. 

“I’ll take a look at the six guys who make it on points and then work out how can we pair up with those six guys well, and that will probably determine the next six. 

US Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker would like to see Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau end their war of words
US Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker would like to see Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau end their war of words

“I’m sure those two guys will be on the team, so it’ll be up to me to kind of pull them aside, hopefully get them together and make it good for everybody. 

“And that’s going to be the key, so that we can unite as a team and play well together as a team.” 

But Koepka is not the type of character to back down – even suggesting the dispute has had positive connotations. 

“I think it's good for the game, I really do," said Koepka. "The fact that golf is on pretty much every news outlet for about two weeks pretty consistently. 

“I think that's a good thing. It's growing the game. I get the traditionalists who don't agree with it, I understand that, but I think to grow the game you've got to reach out to the younger generation. 

"I don't want to say that's what this is, but it's reaching out to a whole bunch of people. It's getting golf in front of people. I think it's good for the game." 

As both men head to this week’s marquee event as genuine contenders, the noise looks set to continue for a little while longer yet. 

The week ahead

Jon Rahm will be desperate to bounce back at Torrey Pines after his recent Memorial heartbreak
Jon Rahm will be desperate to bounce back at Torrey Pines after his recent Memorial heartbreak

Major season is here again as 2021’s third showpiece event tees off on Thursday in the form of the US Open, which is this year being held at Torey Pines South.

The event returns to its regular June slot after a pandemic-prompted rearrangement of the 2020 calendar saw last year's tournament held in September — where the aforementioned DeChambeau took the field apart at Winged Foot.

Ironically, the last man to defend a US Open was Koepka back in 2018, so there's no shortage of incentive for the reigning champion to try and double his Major tally — though plenty also have strong claims to the crown.

Nobody will be hungrier than Jon Rahm, who is set to make his return after heartbreakingly being forced to withdraw from the Memorial Tournament when six strokes clear ahead of the final round a fortnight ago following a positive coronavirus test.

It would be just reward if the Spaniard, 26, could lift the title and he will arrive as one of the favourites for glory.

Despite patchy recent form, Dustin Johson, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy will all fancy their chances at a course which has only held this event once before, when Tiger Woods edged out Rocco Mediate in a playoff back in 2008.

That year, Englishman Lee Westwood finished one shot behind the leading duo and, enjoying somewhat of an Indian summer this season, may fancy his chances of finally landing a first Major.

If Westwood needs any inspiration, he need look no further than 50-year-old Phil Mickelson, who rolled back the years to land last month's US PGA Championship in one of the sport's finest moments of recent times.

Mickelson only needs this trophy to complete his career Major grand slam — and what's to say he can't produce one more bit of magic this week?

We will have all the reaction and fallout from San Diego in next week's On The Tee.

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