South African golf sensation Garrick Higgo has highlighted his competitive nature as the key ingredient of his meteoric rise in the game.

On the back of two European Tour victories in just three weeks, Higgo will make his much-anticipated Major debut at this week’s PGA Championship.

The 22-year-old goes into the event as the 51st-ranked golfer in the world in what has been quite a rollercoaster ride since turning professional back in 2019.

Higgo cut his college golf stint in the USA short to return home to South Africa, where he was impressive in his first Sunshine Tour season.

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‘I really liked the courses that are there [USA] and I liked the coaches as well, but it just didn’t work out for me. I don’t think my game was good enough when I was there, I struggled quite a bit and didn’t play as well,’ he told Golf Monthly.

‘I realised and knew that I was good enough and that I could make it, but I knew I needed to go home and see my coach a lot more to get better. I wanted to climb the ladder from the beginning.’

It’s all been pretty much uphill for Higgo from there – winning his maiden European Tour title in Portugal last year before a very successful ‘Spanish Swing’ in recent weeks.

‘It all happened so quick, but my game just got better and better. To win twice in your first year is just unreal, but I just really enjoy competing – all I want to do is just compete.

‘I didn’t expect to do all these things so quickly, but I think because I was hungry and wanted to learn a lot, I just stuck by what I was doing and it all worked out,’ he added.

Higgo will be one of 11 South Africans to tee off at the Ocean Course in Kiawah Islands on Thursday and will hope to carry his excellent form into the strong field.