Time got the best of Garrick Higgo at the , literally.
Higgo, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, was for being late to his opening round tee time at Aronimink Golf Club on Thursday morning. The South African was on property, but according to rules officials, he did not make it into the “starting point” area near the first tee prior to his 7:18 a.m. tee time.
He was informed of the two-shot penalty when he stepped onto the first tee while being handed his scorecard by an official, but that didn’t mean he was accepting of it.
After a lengthy conversation with officials in the scoring area and eventually signing his scorecard after the round, Higgo joined the ESPN broadcast and uniquely explained the situation from his perspective.
“So the rules, if you’re one second late, you’re late. I was obviously there on time, but late, and that’s a two-shot penalty, and you have five minutes from then until you are DQ’d,” Higgo began. “Obviously, it’s unfortunate. I usually cut it fine. It was cold this morning, I was trying to stay as warm as possible coming off from the range. Yeah, I think it shows a lot of mental strength the way I just kept fighting, and it wasn’t going to affect my swing or my putter.
“It is what it is. My caddie was on the tee box. I didn’t have my watch on me. I didn’t have my phone. I’m already in the clouds a little as it is. It just is what it is. I don’t know what else to do.”
It’s worth emphasizing the fact that this is a professional golfer who couldn’t arrive on the first tee in an appropriate amount of time on day one of a major championship. Credit where credit is due, though, because “I was obviously there on time, but late” may just be one of the singular greatest quotes ever.
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Higgo wasn’t done with the word game there, either.
When asked if he agreed with the ruling of the two-shot penalty, he not only said no, but questioned the most basic concepts of time.
“Probably not, but it’s fine. I was late. One second is tough to define, but I feel like there should maybe be a minute of grace,” Higgo said. “On the PGA Tour, sometimes we tee off 15 seconds after our tee time. I’ve definitely had a few times when I’ve said to a starter ‘It’s a minute past our time.'”
Higgo impressively did not let the two-shot penalty on the first tee get to him whatsoever.
While plenty of players would have let the unfortunate situation linger throughout the round, Higgo went on to shoot a round of 1-under and will be in contention heading into Friday’s action.
