Watch: Harry Higgs makes walk-off albatross to shoot 62 at Safeway Open

NAPA, California – Harry Higgs had a day to remember at Silverado Resort & Spa’s North Course. He capped off a 10-under 62 by holing out his second shot from 230 yards at the par-5 ninth hole for an albatross.

“There’s not really much to say. I hit my 4-iron solid, it drew a little bit, landed short, rolled in the hole,” he said. “I mean, what a wonderful way to end the day and also just really weird. Being the last hole, it’s so final.”

Higgs said he knew he hit it on the button and then he heard a volunteer stationed just left of the green scream, “It’s in the hole, it’s in the hole!”

Higgs’s reaction was priceless.

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“I just took my club and threw it on the ground. It was just full panic,” he said. “You get so amped up and excited, I might fling that thing and Lord knows where it goes. I’m sure it looked funny and ridiculous. I’m sure it could probably be a ‘not top-10 play’ just based on the poor reaction that I gave it.

“No, I mean, what a great way to finish. I had a little panic freakout, jump for joy and then I threw my club.”

Once the euphoria dissipated, his mind shifted to what did marking a two on his scorecard do for his chances in the Safeway Open.

“I finished and said, ‘What did we even shoot?’ I felt like I was 6, 7, 8, something like that,” he said. Try 10, as in under and a bogey-free day to boot. “It was just one of those days where good numbers, good feel, was really exact, didn’t ever push it too far where you could short-side yourself if you mis-hit it. I holed plenty of putts and they were often pretty close, but I holed plenty of putts. There are a few more that I would like to have, I left a couple short throughout the day, but you can’t complain, I just shot 62. If I complain, no one’s going to listen.”

Starting the second round on the back nine, Higgs made back-to-back birdies at Nos. 11 and 12, and then reeled off four birdies in a row beginning at 15. He made the turn in 30. He tacked on a birdie at the third hole when he drained a 14-foot birdie, but then cooled off with five straight pars before his remarkable finish. And what did Higgs do with his albatross ball?

“I signed it and gave it to the volunteer,” he said. “Rufus was with us today, I just signed it, ‘Thanks for going with us, 2 on No. 9,’ a couple exclamation points, signed it and handed it to him. I figure that was better than me keeping it and losing it.”

It marked the first albatross on the Tour since Johnson Wagner in the first round of the 2019 RSM Classic at the 15th hole, and Higgs became the third player in tournament history to do so.

Higgs recorded one of seven top-25 finishes here a year ago in his rookie campaign, and is searching for his first PGA Tour title. He improved to 13-under 131 and trails Sam Burns by two strokes at the midway point. His final-hole heroics made for an unforgettable round, but Higgs was worried about probably the only potential downside of making an albatross.

“I hope that I can like calm down in an hour or so, so I can take a nap,” he said. “I was looking forward to a nap all day long and I might be too jacked up now to actually fall asleep.”

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