'It's quite simple — hit it straight,' says SA's Garrick Higgo

SA golfer Garrick Higgo goes into the $20m Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on Thursday with a level of confidence after playing a few practice rounds with two-time major winner Dustin Johnson.

Higgo employed Johnson’s coach, Claude Harmon, at the beginning of the year to help him strengthen his assault on the PGA Tour, where he won his maiden tournament last year.

“It’s quite simple this week — there’re a lot of water hazards, there’s a lot of rough, [so] hit it straight, hit the green, make the putt,” said Higgo, who tees off with countryman Erik van Rooyen and American Ryan Palmer at 7.40am (2.40pm SA time) on Thursday.

“I just started working with Claud Harmon so I’ve been playing a few practice rounds with Dustin Johnson so it’s nice to see, you can kind of learn from how they play the course.

“It doesn’t change from any other golf tournament, you’ve got to do everything pretty well.”

But this tournament, the richest on the circuit where the winner stands to earn $3.6m with the runner-up pocketing $2.18m and the third-placed finisher making $1.38m, has the feel of a major.

“It’s our tournament,” Higgo told SA journalists in a video call on Wednesday.

“It’s our biggest event, it’s the one we all want to win, it means a lot. It’s equal to a major, especially walking around and seeing how everyone’s preparing, it does feel like a major week.”

He admitted that the prize money was a factor. “I think everybody who plays golf professionally thinks about it, for sure. I think guys who say it’s not about the money are definitely lying — but it’s not my main focus.

“It’s something that is a bonus if you play well. I definitely want to achieve great things in the game and maybe one day get into the hall of fame, stuff like that. It’s a bit of both.”

The 22-year-old joined Harmon to ensure he had a coach close to hand, having operated long-distance with Cliff Barnard on the Garden Route.

“I just needed somebody over in the States. My coach before that ... we still have a great relationship ... I just felt like I wasn’t going to be able to go to SA as much [for coaching].”

Higgo shot up the world rankings last year after winning twice on the European Tour and then on the PGA Tour to secure a berth at the Tokyo Olympics.

His best finish this year was tied 21st at the Phoenix Open in mid-February, but he’s happy with the way he’s playing.

“My game’s good, I’m learning a lot,” he said. “It’s not easy on the PGA Tour — the courses are quite tough, the strength of field is a lot higher than I have played in the past but hopefully I can continue playing really, really well.

“Out here it is hard to win, but if I play like I know I can, I think I will.”

Other SA golfers in the field are Louis Oosthuizen, Dylan Frittelli, Branden Grace and Charl Schwartzel.