Garrick Higgo spent 20 minutes pleading with PGA Championship officials after being handed a two-stroke penalty at Aronimink Golf Club. The South African arrived approximately a minute late for his 7.18 am tee time ahead of Thursday’s opening round and was immediately informed of the punishment.
He did manage to put the nightmare beginning behind him and completed the day under par. The 27-year-old left-hander made a par at the first, which was converted into a double-bogey six, yet he went on to card four birdies en route to a one-under-par 69, placing him inside the top 20.
After walking off the 18th, Higgo made his way to the scoring building and engaged in a 20-minute dispute with tournament officials, putting forward his case and demanding evidence to confirm he had indeed been late.
Higgo offered a somewhat puzzling assessment when speaking to ESPN. He said: “I mean, the rule is if you’re one second late, you’re late. I was obviously there on time, but late, and that’s a two-shot penalty, and you have five minutes then until you’re DQ’d.
“I guess I could have taken five minutes longer or just under that. Obviously, it’s unfortunate. I usually cut it fine. It was cold this morning and I wanted to be as warm as possible coming from the range, so I think it shows a lot of mental strength the way I kept fighting. It wasn’t going to affect my swing or my putting.”
The PGA of America has remained silent since releasing a statement earlier in the day, confirming Higgo had been found in breach of Rule 5.3 and had two strokes added to his scorecard.
“Garrick Higgo, from South Africa, was penalized two strokes for being late to the tee during round one of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania,” the statement read.
“Higgo was on the practice putting green but was not within the area defined as the starting point at his starting time.”
When asked whether he agreed with the penalty, Higgo replied: “Probably not, but it’s fine. I was late. It’s tough, one second is hard to define.
“I feel like there should maybe be a minute’s grace because there’s a bunch of times on tour we tee off 15 seconds after our tee time with starters just being a little bit off time. I’ve definitely had a few times I’ve had to say to the starter it’s already a minute past our time.”
He added: “I’m super proud [of how I coped with it]. I think a lot of guys would have shot a lot after what happened.”