Opinion: Garrick Higgo’s lateness at 2026 PGA Championship continues to make headlines

Garrick Higgo (YouTube)

One of the biggest stories at the 2026 PGA Championship in Philadelphia came in the first round when South Africa’s Garrick Higgo was late. Higgo missed his tee time by a minute, and as a result was given a two stroke penalty.

That penalty proved to be extremely costly for Higgo. That is because he was at +5 over the first 72 holes. As a result, Higgo missed the cut, which was at +4. If it was not for the two stroke penalty for being late, Higgo would have made the cut and been in the money. It should also be noted that Higgo would have been the first round leader at -3, along with Germans Martin Kaymer and Stephan Jaeger, South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter, Australia’s Min Woo Lee, and Americans Scottie Scheffler and Alex Smalley, if it was not for the lateness.

One may wonder where was Higgo. Well, he was practicing hitting balls at the range, and did not have his watch with him. When Higgo was late, we could hear his caddie Austin Gaugert yelling at Higgo to hurry up. Gaugert was at the first tee waiting for Higgo.

On Monday, it came as zero surprise that Higgo fired Gaugert, and replaced him with Nick Cavendish-Pell according to ESPN. What was interesting is the fact that Gaugert put out a statement on Thursday showing responsibility. He stated, “As a caddie, you try to do everything you can to prepare your player for competition and I fell short of that. Garrick was understanding throughout the situation and handled it with professionalism and class. This has happened to players before and will again. Garrick has handled the situation with grace, and I wish him nothing but success moving forward.”

It will now be interesting if Gaugert returns to the PGA Tour. This week Higgo’s caddie showed a high degree of professionalism.