Garrick Higgo came storming through the field on Friday with a six-under-par 65 taking him into a share of second after the second round of the PGA Tour’s Cognizant Classic at the Palm Beaches on the Champion Course at PGA National Resort in Florida.
It wasn’t perfect for the man who has been struggling to recreate the kind of form which has won him three titles on the DP World Tour and once on the PGA Tour, as he made four birdies on his front nine after starting on the 10th. He made three more early on his way home, but dropped a shot on the seventh.
He reached 10-under for the tournament to share second with American Austin Eckroat. They were one shot behind Bud Cauley of the United States.
“Hitting it better,” said Higgo of his round. “I’m giving myself more chances, and the putter has been good for the last couple weeks. I’m just putting for birdie more often.”
He also explained what has been the cause behind the poor form recently: “I injured my wrist at ZOZO late last year, so I took three months off. It’s all right, I guess, and I’ve made a lot of swing changes. I have low expectations.
“I’ve had wrist issues for two years. But yeah, it happened on a shot, but it’s been coming a while.”
And while his wrist isn’t perfect yet, he was happy with the way things are going. “My wrist has been giving me issues still,” he said. “But yeah, my game – my coach and I have been working pretty hard at it, and I feel like my swing is at a place where I can just play instead of trying to find it out there.
“This week I’ve been able to just play instead of… I’ve kind of let go of the swing thoughts, which is where you want to be. So it shows.”
Erik van Rooyen had a level-par 71 in his second round to slip down the leaderboard into a share of 24th on five-under through 36 holes.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout missed the cut with a level-par leaving him at one-under, which was one shot too many.
