Garrick Higgo started his PGA Championship on the back foot before he’d even teed off on the first hole.
He arrived late to the first tee box at Aronimink and received a two-stroke penalty for his trouble. He was seen having an animated discussion in the scorers’ room after his round, but that decision stood.
Despite the penalty, Higgo impressed during Thursday’s play. He shot three-under without the stroke addition, so he’s one-under par on the leaderboard around a golf course that is playing tough so far.
It’s inexplicable that any player could turn up late to their major championship tee time, and Higgo explained how it happened.
Garrick Higgo explains how he was late to his tee time at the PGA Championship
Higgo, in fairness to him, was very open to the media after his round. He took the time to tell Sky Sports how he was late to his tee time.
He said, “I mean, you know, I always cut it fine and this morning it was pretty cold and like, I never want to get to the tee 10 minutes before and be cold when I have to hit a driver, you know, far and straight.
“I usually hit 5 putts before I go to the tee. My caddie dropped my Trackman in the locker, and I went to the putting green, thinking that I still had about 5 minutes, and I obviously did not.
“So I hit one putt and then I heard my name, my caddie was yelling at me and I ran down and got a two-shot penalty.”
Garrick Higgo says what the tournament official told him when he arrived late to his tee time
On his way to the first tee, an official walked up to Higgo and said something when he handed him his scorecard. Higgo revealed what he was told: “He gives me the card and he says, ‘you’ve got a two-shot penalty’. I don’t think I said anything.
“I was gonna tee up in a couple seconds, so I knew I needed to just get myself ready. There’s nothing I can do about it, so. As soon as he gave me the card, he said I got a two-shot penalty. I was like, it’s fine, whatever.
“Like, I’ll sort it out later, whether it is or it isn’t.”
Higgo argued his case after his round to no avail, and there was a little confusion about his penalty during his round.
Higgo continued, “At the time, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be it.
“And then I actually called the rules official in the in the fairway, a guy came to me and I just asked him about it and, um, he said, ‘you were late’, I was just like, you know what, I know that I’m even-par.
“Like, even though I’ve got a two-shot penalty, I’m going to play and I know that even par for the round is a good score.
“So if I ended up shooting two-over, it was okay, you know what I mean?”
It was a costly error for the 27-year-old Higgo, who surely won’t make that mistake again.
