Ready, Set, Higgo!
Garrick Higgo won this first and likely only ever PGA Tour Palmetto Championship. Played in place of the RBC Canadian open due to COVID, Higgo secured a one-shot victory over notables such as volatile Brit Tyrell Hatton and young hotshot Doc Redman. This continues the former UNLV star’s breakout season, as he already has secured 2 wins on the European Tour.
Division III Represent
In a shocking development this week, the 36-hole leader at the Palmetto Championship was Monday qualifier and former Division III National Champion Tain Lee. Lee played golf on the combined team Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, and has been professional for 9 years, with only one year of status on any PGA Tour-sanctioned tour. Though he dropped back to finish in a tie for 14th, Lee no doubt gave renewed hope to many, and serves as a great example that you don’t need to play Division I golf to compete at the highest level.
A Proudly Broken System
Due to COVID, the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour decided that the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons will combine to form one giant season. This has created a unique opportunity on the Korn Ferry Tour for players to earn their battlefield exemption, which is when a player graduates to the PGA Tour for winning 3 times in one season. The first of these was earned this week by Mito Pereira, and a celebratory tweet was sent from the Korn Ferry Tour account. However, this exemption has exposed a flaw in the promotion system. Will Zalatoris, still technically a Korn Ferry Tour player, has played exclusively PGA Tour events since the fall of 2020, and has moved inside the top 30 in the Official World Golf Rankings. Despite this, and despite earning enough money to be in the top 10 on the PGA Tour money list, Zalatoris still has no PGA Tour status.