Garrick Higgo Takes 2-Shot Penalty for Late 7:18 a.m. Tee Time
garrick higgo opened the 2026 PGA Championship with a two-shot penalty after arriving late to his Round 1 tee time. The South African was already in damage control mode at 7:18 a.m., and the penalty put immediate pressure on a round that had barely started.
He was scheduled to tee off with Michael Brennan and Shaun Micheel, but the late arrival triggered a two-stroke penalty under Rule 5.3 of the Rules of Golf. That rule allows only a five-minute late window before disqualification, so the margin for error was tiny from the start.
Higgo at 7:18 a.m.
Higgo is a two-time PGA TOUR winner making his fourth PGA Championship appearance, and he is still chasing his first top-40 finish in any major. That makes every stroke matter even more, because a penalty at the opening tee can change the shape of the round before the player has settled in.
He did not fold after the penalty. Higgo made a double bogey on the first hole, then responded with a birdie on the third to get back to 1-over through eight holes.
Rule 5.3 and the penalty
The rule behind the sanction is straightforward: arrive no more than five minutes late and the player gets two strokes; miss that window by more than five minutes and disqualification follows. That is why the late tee-time issue at a major is more than a scheduling lapse — it carries an immediate scoring cost and a much harsher fallback if the delay is longer.
For Higgo, the penalty means the round began with an extra burden before the ball was struck. The recovery to 1-over through eight holes shows he was still playing to limit the damage, but the two shots lost on the opening tee remain part of the card and part of the race he is trying to run in his fourth PGA Championship.
Michael Brennan and Shaun Micheel
Brennan and Micheel were the two players listed alongside Higgo in the 7:18 a.m. group, and the late arrival put the trio’s opening start under an unusual spotlight. For players in that early wave, the timetable is simple: arrive on time or risk letting the scorecard absorb the penalty before the round even develops.
Higgo now has to play the rest of the championship from behind the number he created at the first tee. In a major where he is still looking for that first top-40 finish, the late-start penalty left him with work to do from the first hole onward.
