The strangest story of The week of the PGA Championship it just got weirder.
Garrick Higgo, the 27-year-old South African who was penalized two shots for arriving late at its opening time Aronominkbroke up with the caddy who tried to rush him to the tee, according to a Golf week REPORT.
The newspaper reported that Higgo has replaced his looper, Austin Gaugert, with Nick Cavendish-Pell, who Higgo has worked with before, including in 2021 when Higgo won the first of his two PGA Tour titles at the Palmetto Championship.
Video from the PGA Championship, which ESPN released as if it were a Zapruder film, showed Higgo in the moments before 7:18 a.m. start, showing little urgency on the practice green. As Higgo finally made his way to the machine box, Gaugert could be seen begging his boss to move.
Higgo arrived on the tee sometime between 7:18 and 7:19, but when it comes to tee times, every second counts, and an official in attendance slapped Higgo with a two-stroke penalty for breaking Rule 5.3a.
If Higgo was shocked, it didn’t show. On a challenging day at Aronimink, he shot a one-under 69 that should have been a 67 that would have tied him for the first-round lead. After his round, he tried to explain his tardiness to the media, but his comments left more than a few observers scratching their heads.
“I was there on time, but the rule is, if you’re a second late, you’re late,” Higgo said. “So if you think about it, I was there in time, if you know what I mean.”
Higo’s form did not last. On Friday, he shot a 76 to miss the cut by one.
Higgo and Cavendish-Pell will officially renew their partnership at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, which starts later this week in Dallas.
