Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
South African golfer Garrick Higgo still refuses to take responsibility for missing his first-round tee time at the PGA Championship, a mistake that cost him two shots, ultimately causing him to miss the cut as well.
Higgo initially tried to defend himself, claiming that he should have been spared a two-stroke penalty because he was only marginally late compared to substantially late.
“I was there on time, but the rule is, if you’re one second late, you’re late,” Higgo said after the round. “So if you think about it, I was there on time, if you know what I mean.”
Well, no, Garrick, that’s not exactly how it works.
“If you know me, then you know I am very casual and laid back,” he went on to explain. “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, yeah.”
Higgo said that his caddie, Austin Gaugert, was screaming at him to get to the tee box. However, he didn’t heed the warning, and now, somehow, that has resulted in Gaugert being out of a job.
Garrick Higgo Parts Ways With Caddie Austin Gaugert
Had Higgo made the cut, the absolute least amount of money that he could have walked away with was $23,900. Instead, Higgo had to settle for the $4,300 stipend given to any player who missed the cut.
As a result, ESPN reports that Higgo has parted with Gaugert and instead will have Nick Cavendish-Pell on his bag at this week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Now, it’s entirely possible that Gaugert decided that he couldn’t work with Higgo anymore after the incident. However, that’s not how it seems to have gone down.
Instead, it appears that Higgo is yet again shirking blame for his own mistake. And yet somehow Gaugert is left to deal with the consequences.