Garrick Higgo’s caddie takes blame for player's late arrival at PGA. But does he deserve it?

Austin Gaugert is a caddie looking for work. Whether he deserves to be seems to be a subject for discussion.

Gaugert was on the bag for Garrick Higgo at last week’s PGA Championship when the South African golfer was hit with a two-stroke penalty for being late for his opening-round tee time. The penalty was costly as Higgo wound up missing the cut at Aronimink by one stroke and would have had the chance at earning a substantial payday and possible qualifying for future majors if not for the mishap.

Subsequently, Higgo decided to let Gaugert go as his caddie, hiring former looper Nick Cavendish-Pell for this week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson. And on Wednesday, Gaugert took responsibility for his player’s rules blunder with a post on Instagram.

"I want to say something about the incident with Garrick Higgo being late to the tee on Thursday at the PGA Championship. 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 handled a difficult situation with grace, and I wish him nothing but success moving forward.

"After working with Garrick and finding the highest success in caddying, Garrick has become a better friend to me than just a boss. I will always be grateful for that."

But how much fault does Gaugert actually deserve for the incident? Gaugert, standing on the first tee waiting for the arrival of his former boss, and be seen in video trying to get Higgo to hurry up as the clock was ticking. When Higgo finally arrived, a PGA of America rules official quickly noted that he was being assessed a two-stroke penalty for the rules blunder (a violation of Rule 5.3a).

Higgo to his credit didn’t let the mishap bother him in the moment, shooting a one-under 69 even with the extra strokes and sitting just two off the Day 1 lead. But his form was far different on Friday when he shot a six-over 76.

Higgo’s meandering comments after Thursday’s round about what happened created their own firestorm.

“I was there on time, but the rule is, if you’re one second late, you’re late,” Higgo said. “So if you think about it, I was there on time, if you know what I mean.”

"If you know me, then you know I am very casual and laid back," Higgo also said. "But, I don't know. I don't want to be there 10 minutes early. I know that five minutes is fine. I thought I had time. I was obviously too casual."

The question then is whose responsibility is it for Higgo to be on the tee on time? Gaugert defenders can rightfully say Higgo is the player and has to be mindful of the time and the circumstances.

Yet the unwritten rules of caddieing go beyond merely show up, keep up, shut up. It’s generally understood that the caddie needs to make sure not only that a player has no more than 14 clubs in his bag but that they are on the tee on time.

Long story short, both player and caddie seem to be at fault in this situation. But when it happens at a major and proves as costly as it did in this case, the caddie will usually wind up the one looking for a new bag.