Garrick Higgo, a golfer from South Africa, was given a penalty of two strokes after he was late Thursday morning to his tee time during the first round of the 108th PGA Championship, which is taking place at Aronimink Golf Club.
Ranked No. 85 globally, Higgo‘s No. 1 hole tee off was scheduled for 7:18 a.m. ET. According to footage from ESPN, he ended up being one minute late.
Higgo is in the same group as Michael Brennan and 2003 PGA Championship victor Shaun Micheel. (RELATED: 8-Time PGA Tour Winner Jim Colbert, Known For Wearing Bucket Hat, Dead At 85)
The PGA of America stated that Higgo was on the putting green having practice, but wasn’t in the area that was set up as the beginning point of his day, according to a press release obtained by ESPN
It’s defined by the PGA of America’s Local Rules and Terms of Competition that a round’s beginning point on the No. 1 and No. 10 holes is around the “rope, gallery stakes, green bike fencing and/or blue stakes, blue dots or blue lines.”
Garrick Higgo was assessed a two-stroke penalty for arriving one minute late to his tee time. pic.twitter.com/zp9yrVTBb9
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 14, 2026
The 27-year-old Higgo was permitted to stay in the PGA Championship due to a Rule 5.3a exception, where a golfer is allowed to show up at the beginning point prepared to go no later than five minutes from their tee time.
The two-time PGA Tour winner went on to make par on the first hole, which is a par-4. With the two-shot penalty, however, he scored a double-bogey 6.
Higgo recovered after carding birdies on both the par-4 third and par-5 ninth holes, making the turn at even-par 35.
It’s rare to see golfers penalized after a late tee time during major championships. with one occurrence being David Lipsky in 2019, who was given a two-stroke penalty after he was late to his tee time in the second round of the PGA Championship, per ESPN. The tournament was held in Farmingdale, New York, at Bethpage Black. Lipsky put up a score of 4-over 74, making the cut on the number.