PGA Championship 2026: Rare penalty enforced after pro shows up late to tee time

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. —Garrick Higgo was hit with a rare penalty before his PGA Championship began Thursday morning.

The South African showed up late to his 7:18 a.m. tee time. According to the PGA of America, Higgo was still on the practice green rather than the area defined as the starting point at his designated tee time. The starting point for the first and 10th tees are defined by the rope, gallery stakes, green bike fencing and/or blue stakes, blue dots or blue lines.

The penalty for showing up late to a tee time is disqualification, with several exceptions, one being showing up less than five minutes late. In Higgo’s case, a two-shot penalty was applied to his first hole, his par turning into a double-bogey six.

Higgo was able to bounce back and turned in one of the best rounds of the morning with a 69, which could have been a 67 and tied for the lead had he avoided the penalty. After his round, Higgo wasn't pleased with how the rule was enforced.

"The rule is if you're one second late, you're late," Higgo explained. "I was obviously there on time but late."

The 27-year-old entered the No. 85 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and is making his fourth career PGA Championship start.