COVID-19 delayed the PGA Tour dream of this former Georgia golfer, but he’s still smiling

Former University of Georgia golfer Greyson Sigg has a happy-go-lucky demeanor that he carries wherever life takes him.

Like last Tuesday, two days before playing in the Puerto Rico Open, the third career PGA Tour event of his career.

Sigg sat on the balcony of his hotel, kicked his feet up on the rail, looked out at the ocean and settled in for an hour of media interviews.

His first appearance on SiriusXMs PGA Tour Radio was canceled because of breaking news of Tiger Woods’ car accident that severely injured the 15-time major champion. The station apologized, and Sigg understood.

“I mean, it’s the greatest golfer of all time, of course, nobody wants to hear from me about playing in Puerto Rico,” said Sigg, poking fun at himself while understanding the gravity of the situation.

Or during his four-year career at the University of Georgia while playing golf for Chris Haack.

Greyson Sigg eyes a putt on the 18th green during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance at Victoria National Golf Course in Newburgh, Ind., Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020.

The 26-year UGA coach knew Sigg’s personality better than anyone as Sigg has been around the Haack household often during a nine-year relationship with Haack’s daughter, Katie.

But Sigg’s carefree disposition allowed their coach-player relationship to blossom and earn him All-SEC honors his senior season.

“He’s got a really laid back personality and he just tries not to put a whole lot of emphasis on things and make them more important than they really are,” Haack said. “Don’t make it more important than it is, it’s just golf. He’s always going to embrace that and is very laid back. He just kind of rolls with the punches better than anybody.”

Sigg has played some of the best golf of his life on the Korn Ferry Tour, the PGA Tour’s breeding ground for golfers vying to reach the sport’s top level. But adversity hasn’t escaped the easygoing 25-year-old.

Sigg contracted COVID-19 last October and was forced to quarantine for 14 days. Fortunately, his only symptoms were a loss of taste and smell.

Where the virus had its largest impact on the Sea Island resident was delaying his claim to a PGA Tour card. When the tours had to take a hiatus for three months last year, the PGA Tour announced in April that the Korn Ferry Tour wouldn’t have its annual graduation of the top 25 players on its money list.

Sigg was in the top-10 of the developmental tour’s list and well on his way to Tour membership, but the Augusta native will have to wait until later this to fulfill his lifelong dream of reaching the PGA.

Former UGA golfer Greyson Sigg tees off during a tournament in 2014. (Photo/Steven Colquitt, UGA Sports Communications)

Like most things in his life, Sigg took it in stride.

“There were a lot of people who called me to tell me how sorry they were,” said Sigg, who is sixth in the Korn Ferry Tour points standings and eighth on its money list. “But, you know, it was such a weird time and we’re out here playing golf for a living. So, I wasn’t too upset.”

Due to the coronavirus interference, the PGA Tour made an exception for players inside the top 10 of the Korn Ferry Tour points standings when the 2020 season ended.

Top-10 players like Sigg and Will Zalatoris, who finished sixth in last year’s U.S. Open, are eligible to play in “additional events” like the Puerto Rico Open, Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, Barbasol Championship and Barracuda Championship that are played opposite of bigger events such as last week’s WGC Workday Championship.

Sigg missed the cut of the Puerto Rico Open but it doesn’t affect his status on the Korn Ferry Tour. He’s still on the path to earn his Tour card.

“I definitely always dreamt of being on the PGA Tour and it was easy to like pro golf and being able to go to the Masters every year and seeing that and made it my dream to play in a Masters one day,” Sigg said. “I’ve got a long way to go, don’t get me wrong, but it’s pretty cool how I’ve managed it so far and I’ve come a long way in the past couple years.”

Sigg says he’ll target around 15 of the final 20 events in the Korn Ferry Tour season. An average showing should secure his PGA Tour card.

If it happens, Sigg said, it will accomplish a goal he set out for in high school.

But he’s not going to sweat it too seriously.

“Obviously, I would have liked to get my card but I’m still in a really good position to get my card for the 2022 season,” he said. “That’s going to be fun this year. It’s going to be a pretty stress-free year because I’m pretty close to locking it up. I’m in a good spot, I’m not really going to get too upset about it.”