A very special moment as Endycott celebrates his PGA Tour status with his father – PGA Tour Getty Images
Sydney’s Harrison Endycott has been one of Australian golf’s quiet achievers in 2022 and when he heads back to his homeland for next week’s Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane he does so as a cardholder on the PGA Tour.
Endycott earned the right to playing rights on the PGA Tour courtesy of a fine season on the Korn Ferry Tour where, by finishing inside the top 25 of the regular season money list, he gained the much sought after card and he has made an immediate impact at the higher level by finishing 12th and 10th in two of his five starts to date and has established a base from which to work when he returns in 2023.
First, however, is this week’s RSM Classic to finish of his year in the US and in a press conference ahead of the event on Wednesday Harrison talked about what his year has meant to him and what lies ahead.
“Yeah, look, (my) game feels like it’s been pretty much in a good spot, it’s just been so much golf. I think after the Australian Open this year it’s going to be my 29th start this year and it’s been — it’s just been a ton.”
Endycott took last week off after missing the cut in Mexico but that was as much about recharging the batteries as it was about indifferent form.
“Just feel pretty rested and ready to go for these next three weeks. No, it’s exciting to be here. First time seeing this golf course. It reminds me a whole lot of 13th Beach back in Australia, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Endycott finished runner-up at the Vic Open at 13th Beach in 2018 so getting positive vibes ahead of this week’s event might just provide the catalyst for another good week.
“At this stage I have really no expectations just on the fact it’s a big week for Monday. You’ve got two courses to cover, played the pro-am on Monday, learned that golf course. Had to learn Plantation course yesterday. You know, it reminds me so much of like golf on the Mornington Peninsula down in Victoria, so the surroundings is very familiar.
“It’s a nice little change, too, to have some cool weather as well. It’s been so hot the last, actually you could say probably, what, the last three tournaments. Actually, it was hot from Sanderson all the way up to Mexico. Mexico was a killer. Yeah, as you can see, I’ve got a little sweater on right now, so it’s a little different. I know it’s back in the heat the next two weeks.”
When asked what he had learned about himself since stepping up to the PGA Tour, Endycott responded: “Yeah, you definitely learn that your good stuff is really close. Like that’s the one thing, that’s probably the biggest key that I’ve learned. When I’m on and I’m playing well, I’m seeing that name, my name at the top of that leaderboard a little bit and that’s a huge confidence boost for especially a rookie early in.
“Some guys get comfortable straight away, some guys take a little bit extra time. I had no idea how I was going to feel. To see my name, I think I was leading after Thursday in Bermuda and just to see those little tiny one percent wins within yourself, you can go to bed sitting there going, you know what, like if I really work hard at this game and I tidy up the things I need to tidy up, I can go out and win out here, I can go and contend out here.”
Endycott was part of the successful 2016 Australian Eisenhower Team and is excited about the prospect of playing at home once again, especially now as a PGA Tour player.
“I’m so excited to come down to Australia and play, spend some time with my coach and bring my caddie down. I love playing down there. You know, learn something new again down there and try to bring that into the west coast swing. You’ve got a really busy schedule coming up in January, so I want to try to get as much work in as I can in that off season and use that to my advantage down in Australia as well.”
While he would dearly love to be in contention this week it would provide somewhat of a double-edged sword for the 26-year-old.
“Yeah, so we’ve got an interesting one. If we’re in contention this week, we might have a little bit of a dilemma, but don’t worry, I’ll be still trying to rush down. As of right now, we’re flying out of San Francisco on Sunday night straight into Brisbane and we get in Tuesday morning.
“I think right now my route is like Jacksonville-Houston, Houston-San Francisco, San Francisco-Brisbane. So it is what it is. It was nice to use some of — nice to use some AmEx points to upgrade to get home so I get some sleep. That would be rough if I was sitting in economy on the way home.”
The manner in which he has played in 2022 and the strong start to his PGA Tour career suggests Endycott will not be long worrying about the need for an upgrade and covering the cost of a business class airfare is the last thing he will need to concern himself about.
His progress in 2022 has been significant and it will be interesting to see if he can follow up his year to date with a big finish to what has been a breakthrough year for him.
Below: Harrison Endycott interview after winning in Alabama this year
