Golfer speaks out after being handed penalty before his PGA Championship had even started

A golfer has spoken out after he was given an unusual penalty before starting his opening round at the PGA Championship.

Garrick Higgo, who is from South Africa and ranked 85th in the world, is playing in the PGA Championship for the fourth time in his career.

The 27-year-old is looking to make the cut for the second consecutive year, but was handed a major blow before he even reached the first tee.

PGA chiefs punished Higgo with a two-shot penalty for making it to the first tee one minute late, stating that he was not 'within the area defined as the starting point at his starting time'.

They defined that area as 'the tape, gallery stakes, green bike fencing and/or blue stakes, blue dots or blue lines'.

That meant that, although Higgo was on the practice putting green at his start time, he was deemed not to be in the correct area.

He did manage to avoid a disqualification, which can be applied either if a player is more than five minutes late to the tee or, in exceptional cases, if they start more than five minutes early.

The South African went on to post a one-under-par round of 69, meaning he is two shots off the lead heading into day two.

Scottie Scheffler is one of seven joint leaders in what is a packed field, with 33 golfers within two shots of each other.

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Higgo spoke to reporters after his round to give his response to the penalty, and explained what he had been told by rule officials.

"This is the first time it happened, so I wasn't sure what... I was just happy that they allowed me to tee off, firstly," he said. "But I was bummed when I was told I had a two-shot penalty.

"I just said to myself that it was going to be a great opportunity to shoot a low score.

"It wasn't a surprise. I was late. My caddie was yelling at me to get to the tee. I knew it was probably going to happen [the penalty], yeah."

"The rule is if you're one second late, you're late," he added. "I was there at 7:18 and 30 seconds, or something like that.

"As I walked down, the announcer who gave me the scorecard said that I had a two-shot penalty. Obviously, it wasn't great. I knew that I had to, firstly, get a driver and I had to hit a tee shot.

"It was okay. I just focused on what I needed to do. I wasn't going to give up and shoot 80.

"I was there on time, but the rule is, if you're one second late, you're late. So if you think about it, I was there on time, if you know what I mean."

Garrick Higgo spoke to the media about his two-stroke penalty for arriving late to his tee time. pic.twitter.com/yDUpWTUoO6

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) May 14, 2026

"When I got there, I was supposed to tee off last in any case. I asked them [his playing partners] if I bothered them by being late. I apologised for that. They said it was fine.

"If you know me, I am very casual and laid-back. I don't want to be there 10 minutes early - I know that five minutes is fine. I thought I had time, but I was obviously too casual."

He went on to tell ESPN: "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."

What do the PGA rules say?

Rule 5.3a of the PGA of America laws states that a player 'must be ready to play at the starting time and starting point set by the Committee'.

It adds that the standard penalty for a breach of the rule is disqualification, except for the following three exceptions:

Exception 1 - Player Arrives at Starting Point, Ready to Play, No More Than Five Minutes Late

Exception 2 - Player Starts No More Than Five Minutes Early

Exception 3 - Committee Decides that Exceptional Circumstances Prevented Player from Starting on Time

Only under Exception 3 is no penalty applied, with the other two breaches being punished with the general two-shot penalty.