Garrick Higgo made the headlines at the start of the PGA Championship, but for the wrong reasons. Arriving late, the South African was penalized, and later, he revealed his side of the story.

Higgo had a 7:18 am tee time on No.1, but the World No. 85 arrived a minute late. This resulted in a penalty of two strokes, which was informed to him by an official on his arrival. 

"Again, I wasn't that late. When I got there, I was supposed to tee off last, in any case, and Shaun (Micheel) -- he hadn't announced Shaun yet. Obviously, he was dealing with finding me, so he probably would have announced Shaun on time. I asked them if I bothered them for being late, and I said, I apologize for that. But they said it was fine." said Higgo.

The 27-year-old admitted he was late by only “about 30 seconds.” However, the rules are clear, and Higgo knew that. He received the “general penalty” under Rule 5.3a.

Higgo was to begin alongside Michael Brennan and Shaun Micheel. His caddie, Austin Gaugert, was “yelling” at him to get to the tee, but as it turned out, it was already too late.

“It was, it was okay. I just kind of focused on what I need to do. I mean, I wasn't going to give up and shoot 80, so there was only one thing that I could do, and that was make birdies and pars and hit it where I wanted to hit it,” he added.

The 27-year-old shot a par on the opening hole. Due to the penalty, it turned into a double-bogey six.

However, the South African followed his opening double bogey with six pars and two birdies, closing out on a level-par total of 35.

Higgo accepted that he was “too casual” in his approach, but also admitted that he had done “everything on time” in the morning. 

Let’s take a look at previous instances where a golfer has been penalized under Rule 5.3a.

Other Golfers Penalized In The Past For Late Arrival

Higgo is not the first golfer to have received the two-stroke penalty for late arrival.

In a similar scenario, Jimmy Walker was penalized two strokes at the Valspar Championship for arriving late to the 1st tee back in 2021. 

In 2024, Mackenzie Hughes arrived late to the third round tee-off at the Genesis Scottish Open, resulting in a two-shot penalty.

A week before Hughes’ mishap, LIV Golfer Scott Vincent had the same fate at the Asian Tour’s International Series Morocco. 

A very rookie mistake, but even the experienced pros seem to fall prey to it, from time to time.

What are your thoughts on Higgo’s argument? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Follow Club Golf for more

Written by

Avishek Sarkar

Edited by

Souvik Roy