You can simply call Garrick Higgo The King Of The Canary Islands.
The soon-to-be 22-year-old (his birthday is Wednesday) gave himself an early birthday present by destroying the rest of the field Sunday at the Canary Islands Championship. The young South African made it two wins in the past three weeks on the European Tour with a closing 64 that got him to 27-under par — just two short of the 72-hole European Tour scoring record.
Higgo made it a one-man show with a six-under par 30 on the front nine that included a hole-in-one at the seventh and then put it in cruise control over the final nine holes. The only question was — could he break or tie the 29-under mark set by Ernie Els?
“I was trying to shoot 30 under,” Garrick said after he was spayed with champagne by his fellow South African players. “It’s unreal, I played so well today. I hit the ball very nicely so it was a lot less stressful than the last time because I was hitting it a lot better. I can’t believe it happened so quickly again but my game has been good so I can believe it as well.”
The only question would be who would finish second to Higgo? It was Maverick Antcliff of New Zealand who closed with 65 and was five back of Higgo. Finland’s Tapiio Pukkanen’s 66 earned him solo third at 20-under. Low round of the day was a 10-under par 61 by Ireland’s Niall Kearney and it got him a share of fourth at 19-under.
But the spotlight was on Higgo and his victory set a first for the European Tour. It was the first time that South Africans won three-straight events outside their home country. In between Higgo’s wins, Dean Burmester won last week on the same course.
A third European Tour win in just his 26th event makes him the fastest South African to three wins not including Majors and World Golf Championships, and he also matches the record of Tiger Woods for the fewest number of events needed to claim three European/PGA Tour wins since 1990.
Higgo is the fourth-youngest player to notch three European Tour wins and his six-shot victory margin is the largest for the 2021 Race to Dubai. Higgo moves up to fifth on the Race to Dubai and also moves him to the brink of entering the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time.
“I’ve been working really hard on a lot of little things, and I’ve also accepted what works for me and stuck with that, I think that’s been a big thing, and not if I don’t play as well look for something. I’m just going to try and keep going,” Higgo pointed out.
“I think I can go as high as I want to, the way I’m playing I can do a lot of good things.”
Canary Islands Championship Scoreboard:
Thai Delight: Ariya Jutanugarn Leads Home Country Sweep In Thailand:
No player from Thailand had ever won an LPGA event in their home country. That changed on Sunday when Ariya Jutanugarn came roaring from five-shots back at the start of the final round to win the LPGA Honda Thailand tile by a shot over another Thai — 18-year-old Atthaya Thitikul. In fact, with overnight leader Patty Tavatanakit saving a tie for third, it was a 1-2-3 sweep for the home country.
Jutanugarn closed with a final-round 63, her lowest 18-hole score since the recording a 62 at the Meijer LPGA Classic. Sitting with the lead at -22 as the final two groups took on the 18th, play was halted for more than an hour at 2:47 p.m. Thitikul was in the final grouping and needed an eagle to win or a birdie to force a playoff. When play resumed and she finally landed her approach to the green, a three-putt on the final hole meant Jutanugarn had earned her first victory in four years.
Jutanugarn was overjoyed to become the first from her country to win there. “It just feels so good, not only for Thai player to win, but I would say I have really tough time last two years. I’m thinking about like, you know, I don’t know how many times I told my psychology, like, you know, what I want to rest, no more. I want to stop for a while. Every time when I look at all the kids and I want them to — give them inspiration. So I feel like you know what, don’t give up. Do your best. Try harder. Keep trying. One day you will get it.”
And she did. She was nervous waiting for the last groups to finish. She wanted to watch but her caddie made her practice putting. “He’s like — you watch or you not watching them play the result not going to change. How about you just putt and practice? And I’m like, Okay, I do it. So I putt, keep putt, and he walk to me and give me a hug, so like, oh, I win the tournament.”
Tavatanakit lost her lead after bogeys at the sixth and ninth holes. She took herself out of contention with a double-bogey five at the par three 12th and after finishing two shots behind the winner, she’ll know that hole cost her a possible playoff spot.
She birdied 17 and 18 and finished tied for third with So Yeon Ryu, Amy Yang and Angel Yin at 20-under.
