{"id":685609,"date":"2026-05-21T17:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/685609\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T17:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:42:10","slug":"garrick-higgos-ex-caddie-on-pga-championship-penalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/685609\/","title":{"rendered":"Garrick Higgo’s Ex Caddie On PGA Championship Penalty"},"content":{"rendered":"

The caddie let go by Garrick Higgo<\/a> after missing his PGA Championship tee time has spoken out for the first time since the incident at Aronimink last week.<\/p>\n

Higgo was given a two-stroke penalty by PGA of America<\/a> officials after arriving late to the tee box for his opening round of the PGA Championship.<\/p>\n

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It proved to be a costly penalty, as despite a battling first round he struggled on Friday and ended up missing the cut by just one shot.<\/p>\n

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Higgo then split with his caddie Austin Gaugert<\/a> in the aftermath of the event – and now Gaugert has had his say on the matter.<\/p>\n

Far from being angry about the situation, Gaugert shouldered the blame for Higgo missing his tee time as he posted on social media.<\/p>\n

“As a caddie, you try to do everything you can to prepare your player for competition and I fell short of that,” Gaugert said on Instagram.<\/a><\/p>\n

“Garrick was understanding throughout the situation and handled it with professionalism and class. This has happened to players before and will again.<\/p>\n

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“Garrick handled this difficult situation with grace, and I wish him nothing but success moving forward.”<\/p>\n

Gaugert added the Higgo, who has gone back to former caddie Nick Cavendish-Pell, remains a good friend despite the bizarre mishap, which really sparked interest at Aronimink.<\/p>\n

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\"Garrick\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

It’s unusual for players to miss their tee times at all, let alone in a Major, but even after that interest in the story increased when Higgo tried to explain the penalty<\/a> – but only served to add to the confusion.<\/p>\n

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“It’s kind of – I was there on time, but the rule is, if you’re one second late, you’re late. So if you think about it, I was there on time, if you know what I mean,” said Higgo in his now infamous explanation.<\/p>\n

“I don’t want to be there ten minutes early. I know that five minutes is fine. I thought I had time.<\/p>\n

“I could have added maybe five minutes for the walk from the range to the tee, but everything is kind of here.”<\/p>\n

Higgo admitted he was “obviously too casual” in his approach, but Gaugert has also now accepted some of the blame for one of the headline making moments of the PGA Championship.<\/p>\n