Pro Slammed With Unusual Penalty on First Tee at PGA Championship

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Garrick Higgo’s start to the PGA Championship was less than ideal: he was 2 strokes over par before even hitting a shot at Aronimink Golf Club.

Higgo, from South Africa, arrived late to the No. 1 tee for his 7:18 a.m. tee time. He had been on the practice putting green and his caddie was waiting for him on the tee along with other competitors Shaun Micheel and Michael Brennan.

But the left-handed golfer was simply too casual in arriving. The PGA of America explained that its implementation of Rule 5.3a means a “player must be ready to play at the starting time and starting point set by the committee.”

Because he was on the putting green, Higgo was not ddemed to be within the area defined as the starting point for the round which is “defined by the rope, gallery stakes, green bike fencing and/or blue stakes, blue dots or blue lines.

The penalty for a breach of Rule 5.3a is disqualification, with three exceptions, one of which Higgo met: ready to play no more than five minutes late.

That meant a two-shot penalty.

Higgo, who was assessed the two-shot penalty for his first hole, made two birdies on the front side to get back to even par for his round.

The penalty is rare but does happen. Mackenzie Hughes was late to his third-round tee time last year at the Genesis Scottish Open and assessed two strokes.

Dustin Johnson got a two-shot penalty for arriving late at the 2011 Northern Trust Open due to a misunderstanding with his caddie.

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