To honor Grayson Murray, Harry Higgs makes plea: ‘say something nice to somebody you do not even know’

Harry Higgs has won the last two weeks on the Korn Ferry Tour. But he’s also won with his words during his victory speeches afterward—for altogether different reasons.

Last week Higgs won the AdventHealth Championship in Overland Park, Kan., only 20 minutes from where he grew up. He was fired up after holing a long wedge shot for eagle on the 72nd hole to get into the playoff, then won with birdie on the first sudden-death hole.

“I haven’t had a cocktail in a long time,” he said then, drink in hand. “I told myself I wasn’t gonna drink again until I won a golf tournament, so here we go.”

On Sunday at the Visit Knoxville Open, Higgs made five birdies on the first six holes to shoot 65, then topped Frankie Caplan III on the second hole of a playoff when he made a 37-footer for eagle.

This time, however, the victory speech was much more somber, as Higgs used most of his time with the microphone to pay tribute to Grayson Murray, who died Saturday, just a day after withdrawing from the second round of the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge. Murray’s parents released a statement Sunday that said their son committed suicide.

“I kind of thought about this moment and how to maybe remember Grayson,” Higgs said.

“This golf stuff and the result, it’s lovely, sure, but it's just not, it’s not that meaningful.”

“One thing that I kind of thought of last night, especially laying in bed. 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 it a point to say something nice to somebody you do not even know.

“The world is difficult and only getting more difficult.

"Everybody here could be a difference, the difference. Brighten up somebody’s day, it could mean the world.”