{"id":588130,"date":"2026-05-17T00:06:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T00:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/588130\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T00:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T00:06:23","slug":"golf-star-reveals-devastation-after-suffering-blow-before-pga-championship-even-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/588130\/","title":{"rendered":"Golf star reveals devastation after suffering blow before PGA Championship even started"},"content":{"rendered":"

Garrick Higgo admitted he was “bummed” after being hit with a highly unusual two-shot penalty before he had even struck a ball at the PGA Championship.<\/p>\n

The South African, currently ranked 85th in the world, was penalised after arriving at the first tee just moments after his scheduled starting time at Aronimink Golf Club.<\/p>\n

Tournament officials ruled that Higgo was not within the designated starting area when his tee time arrived, despite the 27-year-old being on the nearby practice putting green.<\/p>\n

Under the Rules of Golf, players must be inside a clearly defined zone at their allotted start time. That area can include ropes, fencing, stakes or marked lines surrounding the tee.<\/p>\n

Because Higgo was only marginally late, he avoided disqualification but was automatically assessed a two-stroke penalty.<\/p>\n

The former PGA Tour winner responded impressively, carding a one-under-par 69 to remain firmly in contention after the opening round.<\/p>\n

That score left him just two shots behind a crowded leaderboard headed by Scottie Scheffler and six others.<\/p>\n

Speaking afterwards, Higgo admitted he was frustrated by the setback.<\/p>\n

\"Garrick<\/p>\n

Garrick Higgo admitted he was “bummed” after being hit with a highly unusual two-shot penalty before he had even struck a ball at the PGA Championship<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

“I was bummed when I was told I had a two-shot penalty,” he said.<\/p>\n

“This is the first time it happened, so I wasn’t sure what was going on. I was just happy that they allowed me to tee off.”<\/p>\n

Higgo acknowledged that he knew he was cutting it fine as he made his way to the tee.<\/p>\n

“My caddie was yelling at me to get to the tee,” he explained. “It wasn’t a surprise. I was late.”<\/p>\n

\"FiveFive quirky facts about golf | GBNEWS<\/p>\n

“The rule is if you’re one second late, you’re late.”Rather than allowing the punishment to derail his round, Higgo used it as motivation.<\/p>\n

“I just said to myself that it was going to be a great opportunity to shoot a low score,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I wasn’t going to give up and shoot 80.”<\/p>\n

The South African also revealed that his relaxed nature may have contributed to the incident.<\/p>\n

“If you know me, I am very casual and laid-back,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I thought I had time, but I was obviously too casual.”<\/p>\n

\"\\u200bBecause<\/p>\n

Because Garrick Higgo was only marginally late, he avoided disqualification but was automatically assessed a two-stroke penalty<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

Higgo later told ESPN that the cool morning conditions had influenced his decision to stay on the practice range for as long as possible.<\/p>\n

“It was cold this morning and I wanted to be as warm as possible,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I think it shows a lot of mental strength the way I kept fighting.”<\/p>\n

Higgo is playing in the PGA Championship for the fourth time and is aiming to make the cut for the second successive year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Garrick Higgo admitted he was “bummed” after being hit with a highly unusual two-shot penalty before he had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,50,217,101,56,54,55,741,1384,154037],"class_list":["post-588130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-us","tag-us-news","tag-us-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}