Last week, South Africa’s Garrick Higgo made all the headlines for the wrong reason. His former caddie recently took to social media and accepted responsibility for the blunder at the PGA Championship.

Higgo received a two-shot penalty for arriving late to his first round tee time at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania. Following the major, he and his caddie, Austin Gaugert, went their separate ways.

"As a caddie, you try to do everything you can to prepare your player for competition and I fell short of that,” wrote Gaugert on Wednesday.

The South African had a 7:18 am tee time on No. 1, but he arrived a minute late. As a result, he clearly violated Rule 5.3a and thus received the penalty.

A matter of seconds turned out to be costly for the 27-year-old as he failed to make the cut by just one stroke. His fourth PGA Championship appearance became a nightmare.

“Garrick was understanding throughout the situation and handled it with professionalism and class. This has happened to players before and will again. Garrick handled this difficult situation with grace, and I wish him nothing but success moving forward.” Gaugert further added on his Instagram story.

On Monday, Higgo fired Gaugert, but the caddie expressed no hard feelings about the decision. He described Higgo to be more of a friend than “just a boss.” 

After the mishap, Higgo claimed that he wasn’t “that late.” However, according to the PGA of America, the South African was on the putting green at the Aronimink but not within the starting area.

"If you know me, then you know I am very casual and laid back," Higgo said. "I don't know. I don't want to be there 10 minutes early. I know that five minutes is fine. I thought I had time. I was obviously too casual, yeah." 

Gaugert was visibly animated at the time of tee-off and urged his partner to hurry up. Despite his best efforts, it was already too late and the officials came across to inform him about the penalty.

Higgo now has reunited with his former caddie.

Higgo reappoints former caddie

After firing Gaugert, Higgo hired Nick Cavendish-Pell, with whom he has shared a past success. 

Back in 2021, the pair won the Palmetto Championship together at the Congaree Golf Club. Higgo had scored 11-under par and won by one stroke.

Most recently, Cavendish-Pell had been working with French PGA Tour rookie Adrien Saddier. 

Higgo, with Cavendish-Pell on the bag, is currently featuring at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas. 

What are your thoughts on Gaugert's statement? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Avishek Sarkar

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason