Inspired by Player, Higgo rallies to win

RIDGELAND, S.C. — Garrick Higgo’s day began with a call from nine-time major winner Gary Player, one South African golfer chatting with another. It ended in triumph, just like so many of Player’s Sundays did in his legendary career. The 22-year-old Higgo won the Palmetto Championship at Congaree for his first career victory on the PGA Tour, taking the tournament title after Chesson Hadley, who after 54 holes had a four- shot lead over Harris EnglishXand a six-shot edge over Higgo, squandered a twoshot advantage with bogeys on his final three holes. The 85-year-old Player told his young countryman not to worry about starting the final round with a good bit of ground to make up. “He told me he’s done it before, won quite a few times from six behind, seven behind,” Higgo recalled. “Just try and do your thing and stay up there. You don’t know what can happen.” Player was right as Higgo remained patient and steady throughout — and made sure to take advantage when opportunities arose. The left-hander closed with a 3-under-par 68 charged by an eagle on the par-5 12th hole and a birdie on the 14th to reach 11 under, the winning score in relation to par. Higgo kept himself in position on the challenging 17th hole — rolling in a 10-foot par save after not hitting the fairway on his first two shots — and closed with another par to finish at 273 built by four rounds in the 60s. Already a three-time winner on the European Tour, Higgo also benefited Sunday from a late collapse by Hadley, who had also held the lead after 36 holes but carded a 75 in the final round after starting 65-66-68. Seeking his first tour win since 2014, the former Georgia Tech golfer made a bogey on No. 16 after a wayward tee shot, then failed to get up and down on the 71st and 72nd holes as he gave away the win. Hadley wound up tied for second at 10 under with Tyrrell Hatton (68), Doc Redman (67), Hudson Swafford (66), Bo Van Pelt (68) and Jhonattan Vegas (67). English shared 14th at 7 under after closing with a 74. The Baylor School graduate had consecutive birdies on the second through fourth holes of the final round, but a bogey on No. 6 was his first of five in the round, and he also had a double on the 18th, with his only other birdie on No. 15.

› GREER, S.C. — Mito Pereira won the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am on Sunday to earn an immediate PGA Tour promotion. The Rex Hospital Open winner the previous weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina — where he triumphed in a one-hole playoff against Chattanooga’s Stephan Jaeger — Pereira closed with a 7-under-par 64 as he finished at 27-under 258 at Thornblade Club for a four-stroke victory over Justin Lower (71). The 26-yearold Pereira, who is from Chile and played college golf at Texas Tech, earned the immediate PGA Tour promotion as a three-time winner this season; he also won the Country Club de Bogota Championship in February 2020. Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golfer Jonathan Hodge (72) tied for 13th at 16 under, his best finish since sharing seventh at the North Mississippi Classic in April 2018. Jaeger (69), a former Baylor School and UTC standout who has won twice this season and will begin his second stint on the PGA Tour no later than next season, tied for 38th.

MOTORSPORTS

› DETROIT — Pato O’Ward became IndyCar’s first driver to win twice this season, closing an emotional weekend for Arrow McLaren SP at the Detroit Grand Prix with a victory he dedicated to his injured teammate. Felix Rosenqvist was injured in a crash Saturday in the first race of the doubleheader weekend and was hospitalized overnight. O’Ward called his teammate Sunday morning and promised to win the second race on the Belle Isle course for him. “I’m a man of my word,” O’Ward said. “I wanted to get it done for him.” Making good on his promise required a masterful drive in which the 22-year-old from Mexico began fifth on the final restart with seven laps remaining in a race completely dominated by Josef Newgarden, who had started in pole position and led 67 of 70 laps before being caught. O’Ward picked off Graham Rahal in the first turn, then Alex Palou in the second. He next caught Colton Herta, leaving only two-time series champion Newgarden in his sight. O’Ward caught him in the seventh turn with a little more than two laps to go, and Newgarden tried to use his experience to run O’Ward down to the marbles as they battled wheel to wheel and their cars touched. O’Ward completed the pass and drove away to beat Newgarden by 6.7595 seconds, confident he never crossed the line between clean racing and aggressively chasing a win and the season title. “In my head, the two guys that I’m fighting the championship with are in front of me, and I was not going to be pleased if we ended behind them,” O’Ward said. “So if I had the chance I was going to strike.”