Harry Higgs honors Grayson Murray in heartfelt winner's speech at Visit Knoxville Open

Harry Higgs made history on Sunday. He also made a difference.

Higgs became the first player in Korn Ferry Tour history to win back-to-back tournaments in a playoff, virtually ensuring his return to the PGA TOUR for 2025. He used the Visit Knoxville Open’s trophy ceremony as an opportunity to remember Grayson Murray, the two-time PGA TOUR winner who died Saturday, and to remind people of the power of kindness.

Higgs normally has no trouble sleeping, but admitted Saturday night was an exception. Even though professional golfers are taught to not look ahead to potential outcomes, Higgs was wrestling with a potential winner’s speech and how he could honor Murray in a heartfelt way. After making a 37-foot eagle putt on the second playoff hole at Holston Hills Country Club, outlasting Frankie Capan III for his second straight Korn Ferry Tour title, Higgs did just that.

“We lost, yesterday morning, one of our own,” Higgs said in his speech. “Somebody who went through a lot of difficult things, somebody that was open and honest about it, and last night … I thought about this moment, and how to maybe remember Grayson. …One thing that I thought of last night, especially laying in bed, is I would challenge everybody here, … and I’m going to do this myself as well each day, … say something nice to someone you love and also make a point to say something nice to someone you do not even know.

“So if we can, everybody here could be a difference, the difference, brighten up somebody’s day. It could mean the world.”

Playing in Sunday’s penultimate grouping, Higgs closed in 5-under 66 to post 19-under 261, which Capan matched one group later. Both players made birdie on the first playoff hole, the par-5 18th, before Higgs won on the next playoff hole, also No. 18. With back-to-back victories at the AdventHealth Championship and Visit Knoxville Open, Higgs now stands No. 2 on the season-long Korn Ferry Tour Points List, virtually assured of a top-30 spot that will improve his PGA TOUR status for 2025.

Murray won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour last year to regain his TOUR card, and he won the Sony Open in Hawaii in January for his second TOUR title. Throughout his professional career, Murray openly discussed his battles with anxiety, depression and alcohol abuse. He supported others who battled similar issues, sometimes offering direct outreach to others whose stories he came across. Tributes from across the world in the last 24 hours echoed Murray’s realness and humanity, also demonstrating the extent to which Murray was loved.

On this day, those numbers were secondary.

“I'm certainly not perfect, but I'm going to certainly try to live what I said,” Higgs said. “Say something nice to a loved one and say something nice to somebody you don't know and try to accomplish that daily. That will be part of my routine, part of the things that I can control outside the golf course and hopefully bring light to somebody that may be having a hard time.”

Notes

• Higgs (1st/-19), who won last week’s AdventHealth Championship, becomes the 14th player (15th occurrence) to win back-to-back events in Korn Ferry Tour history
• Capan (2nd/-19) records his first career runner-up finish and his fourth top 10 in his last five starts (Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club/T9, LECOM Suncoast Classic/T8, Veritex Bank Championship)
• Last season, Capan had three top-10 finishes in 22 starts
• Third-year member Quade Cummins (T3/-18) finishes T3 for his Tour-leading fifth top-10 finish of the year with a final round 9-under 61 to tie the course record; highlighted by an ace on the 169-yard par-3 fourth
• Rhein Gibson (T3/-18), who finished No. 40 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, capped off his round with an eagle on the par-5 18th for a 4-under 66 and a T3 finish, his best finish of the season and first top 10
• Korn Ferry Tour winner Max McGreevy (T3/-18), making his second career start at the visit Knoxville Open, finishes T3 for his best finish at the event (previously; T38/2018)
• Cody Blick (T3/-18), who finished No. 41 on the 2023 Points List, turns in his third consecutive 5-under 65 of the week at Holston Hills Country Club, logging his second top 10 of the 2024 campaign (LECOM Suncoast Classic/T6)
• 36-hole co-leader Cristobal Del Solar (T8/-16), making his 11th start of the year, bounces back from his 1-over 71 third round with a 6-under 64 for his fourth top 10 of the season; recorded four top-10 finishes in 25 starts last year
• Julian Suri (T22/-12), who made his fourth start of the season this week, plays his way into next week’s UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH with a T22 finish at this week’s event
• Nine players posted bogey-free rounds in Sunday’s final round