Garrick Higgo doesn't agree with 2-shot penalty at PGA Championship: 'I wasn't that late'

Garrick Higgo got to the tee box one minute late for his 7:18 a.m. ET tee time Thursday at the 2026 PGA Championship. The result? A two-shot penalty.

Higgo was penalized under Rule 5.3a. The PGA of America’s Local Rules and Terms of the Competition states the following with regard to defining the starting point of a round:

For the purpose of applying Rule 5.3a, the starting point for hole No. 1 and hole No. 10 is defined by 'the rope, gallery stakes, green bike fencing and/or blue stakes, blue dots or blue lines.' A player must be ready to play at the starting time and starting set by the Committee.

However, he doesn't agree with the penalty. At all.

Higgo spent 20 minutes in scoring pleading his case before turning his scorecard in. He said his playing partners argued his case, too. Nevertheless, the penalty remained, a stain on an otherwise impressive 1-under 69 on Thursday at Aronimink.

"I wasn't that late," Higgo said. "When I got there — I was supposed to tee off last in any case, and Shaun — he hadn't announced Shaun (Micheel) yet. Obviously he was dealing with finding me, so he probably would have announced Shaun on time. I asked them if I bothered them for being late, and I said, I apologize for that. But they said it was fine. I obviously don't want to bother anybody."

His group was in the middle of teeing off, but when Higgo wasn't there by his tee time, he is considered late. If he was 5 or more minutes late, he would've been disqualified. He was only a minute late, but he was still late.

"If you know me, then you know I am very casual and laid back," Higgo said. "But, I don't know. I don't want to be there ten minutes early. I know that five minutes is fine. I thought I had time. I was obviously too casual."

Without the penalty, Higgo would've shot 67 to tie for the early lead after the morning wave. Nevertheless, he opened under par at a major championship and is in a good position going to Friday. But what could've been.

"Just told myself that I'm even par, because in the moment as well, I wasn't sure if it was going to be two shots," Higgo said of his mindset after the penalty. "Just try to like frame it differently so I felt better about it, essentially. Nothing special.

"I just said to myself, it's going to be a great opportunity to shoot a low score."