UNLV alum brings new perspective to Shriners Children’s Open
Harry Hall arrives this week at his hometown Shriners Children’s Open with two titles he will carry with him forever: PGA Tour winner and father.
Hall accomplished both in a 48-hour span in July. He won the ISCO Championship on July 11 in Kentucky, then welcomed his daughter Lilah two days later.
Moments with his daughter and his wife, Jordan, give Hall a new sense of purpose off the course.
“I have a fantastic wife, fantastic life,” said Hall, who noted small things like Lilah starting to smile bring him joy.
“Jordan is carrying the bulk of the load right now,” he said of early parenting with his wife, whom he met when both were at UNLV. “I’m enjoying the moments and looking forward to when I’ll be able to teach her things.”
The fact Hall, 27, is getting to spend time as a new dad and not grinding every week on tour is a result of his win in Kentucky. His 2024 season to that point had been rather pedestrian. He was hovering around or just below where he needed to be in the points standings to retain his playing card for 2025. The win changed everything.
“I’d played steady golf throughout the year, always around the cutline it seemed,” Hall said. “I hadn’t played bad.”
Just not good enough for all four rounds.
Then came Kentucky, and a five-man playoff he won on the third hole when he chipped in for birdie.
Hall’s life changed when that ball dropped. He sewed up his playing card through the end of 2026, earned invitations to the 2025 PGA Championship and the winners-only season-opener at Kapalua, among other perks. He also earned the opportunity to breathe and not only be there for Lilah’s birth, but enjoy family time as a new dad.
A new team
The victory didn’t come out of nowhere. Hall had been trending in the right direction, finishing 31st at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and 12th at the John Deere Classic the two weeks before the ISCO Championship. Those results came after Hall made changes to his team.
He added a new caddie, Brian Zeigler, who Hall calls more of a performance coach than looper; a new trainer and a renewed commitment in the gym; and a visit to renowned swing coach Butch Harmon in Las Vegas.
“I feel like a new player. My game is in a really good place,” Hall said.
Hall formed an instant connection with Harmon, who has worked with many of the biggest stars in golf.
“I figured if anybody could give me advice, Butch was the guy,” Hall said. “We hit it off right away.”
Harmon is the first swing coach Hall has had as a professional, although he worked with coaches as a youth in his native Cornwall, England, and with UNLV assistant coach Phil Rowe.
“I think about Harry and his journey through college a lot,” said Rowe, now the head coach at Cal Poly. “Just yesterday, a player was in contention to win down the stretch and came up just short despite all their efforts. This happened to Harry a time or two in amateur, college and early on in professional golf, and those experiences only ever made him stronger, more determined, and love the game more.
“Looking back, they were crucial learning opportunities en route to winning on the Korn Ferry and then on to the PGA Tour this year.”
Hall isn’t content with one win. He expects more will be coming. Ultimately, his dream remains to slip on a green jacket at the Masters, the same goal he has had since his teenage years at little West Cornwall Golf Club. That 5,800-yard, par-69 course was where Long Jim Barnes learned to play before he won four majors in the 1910s and 1920s. That remains the standard Hall is aiming to match. It’s also where Rowe learned the game, which led to him recruiting Hall to the Rebels.
Las Vegas has been Hall’s home since he stepped foot on the UNLV campus almost a decade ago. That makes this week’s Shriners Children’s Open a special event for him.
He’s finished eighth, 15th and 26th the three times he’s appeared in the tournament so far. He’s played the course as much as anybody in the field and that experience, along with the confidence he’s gained in recent months, make him more than ready to play in front of his hometown fans.
“I would very much like to win it,” Hall said.
Greg Robertson covers golf for the Review-Journal. Reach him at grobertson@reviewjournal.com.