Professional golfer Garrick Higgo received a two-stroke penalty after arriving one minute [2] late to his Round 1 tee time at the PGA Championship.
The incident highlights the strict adherence to scheduling in major championships, where minor timing errors can directly impact a player's leaderboard position. Such penalties can disrupt the momentum of a tournament and create significant pressure for athletes attempting to recover lost ground.
Higgo was competing at the Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania, U.S., on Thursday, May 15 [1]. The golfer said that he spent extra time on a practice putting green adjacent to the tee. Because he did not have a watch or a cell phone with him, he lost track of time and arrived seconds after his scheduled start [3, 4].
Despite the two-stroke penalty [1], Higgo recorded a score of 69 [4] for his first round. The golfer maintained a relaxed perspective on the timing requirements of the event. "I don't really think it's my job to be ten minutes early," Higgo said [4].
Following the controversy of the first day, Higgo arrived on time for his Round 2 tee time on Friday, May 16 [1, 3]. His punctual arrival for the second stage of the tournament suggests a correction in his pre-game routine following the initial penalty.
“I don't really think it's my job to be ten minutes early.”
The penalty underscores the rigid operational standards of the PGA Championship, where timing is treated as a formal rule of competition rather than a courtesy. While a two-stroke penalty is a significant setback in a high-stakes tournament, Higgo's ability to shoot a 69 despite the error demonstrates that technical skill can occasionally mitigate the impact of procedural mistakes.
