Michael Kim explains why he was almost late for his tee time on day one of the PGA Championship

15 May 2026 • 5:30 PM MYT
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Image from: Michael Kim explains why he was almost late for his tee time on day one of the PGA Championship
Photo by Chris Condon/Augusta National/Getty Images

The PGA Championship is now well underway at Aronimink, with Garrick Higgo attracting early attention for his late tee time.

Higgo was handed a two stroke penalty for being late for his tee time in the opening round, although he impressively recovered to post a one-under 69.

His fellow PGA Tour player Michael Kim has now shared his reaction to the bizarre situation, having admitted that he was almost in the exact same position.

Michael Kim confirms he was almost late for his first PGA Championship tee time

Sharing his thoughts from his first round of the PGA Championship, one-time PGA Tour winner Kim wrote on X:

– +3 start. I got into a decent rhythm in the middle and got it to even par but struggled coming in.

– I was almost late to my tee time too.

– Because 1 and 10 share one tee box, tee times are in 5 min intervals between 1 and 10. Spieth teed off on 10 at 841, me off 1 at 846. I was putting until the entire group teed off. But because I’m used to 10 min gaps between a group teeing off, just out of habit I was walking leisurely but by the time the last guy teed off on 10, it was 843. I then briskly walked to 1 tee. Not an excuse and idk what Higgo exactly thought, just sharing my experience.

Image from: Michael Kim explains why he was almost late for his tee time on day one of the PGA Championship
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Michael Kim makes ‘crazy’ Aronimink claim at the PGA Championship

Kim did manage to avoid Higgo’s two stroke penalty at the PGA Championship, but he failed to replicate his fine efforts at Aronimink.

The American carded a three-over 73 on Thursday, joining several others in a tie for 93rd place in the leaderboard.

Summarizing his round, Kim noted:

– Double on 3 was rough. I got too aggressive with my 2nd from the rough and made kind of a careless double.

– Nice bounce back on 6 with a long birdie putt which is why my stats on putting is good.

– The pin on 14 was crazyyy lol. It’s 217 with wind into playing 230+ and there was a fall off 3ft past where it’d go off the green. I practically laid up from 35 ft with my birdie putt.

– My finish was the most disappointing. Ending up with back-to-back three putts on 15, 16. They were tough putts but still disappointing.

At the other end of the leaderboard, a total of seven players carded opening rounds of three-under to claim joint top spot.