A caddie has broken his silence after being dismissed when his golfer arrived late to his PGA Championship tee time. South African golfer Garrick Higgo was 30 seconds late for his first-round tee time at the major tournament at Aronimink last week.
As a result of the tardiness, Higgo was assessed a two-stroke penalty, which ultimately led to him missing the cut. On Tuesday, it was revealed that Higgo fired his caddie Austin Gaugert due to the mishap and returned to his former bag man, Nick Cavendish-Pell.
Following his sacking, Gaugert addressed the incident in a post to his Instagram story. 'As a caddie, you try to do everything you can to prepare your player for competition and I fell short of that,' he said. 'Garrick was understanding throughout the situation and handled it with professionalism and class. This has happened to players before and will again.'
He added: 'Garrick handled this difficult situation with grace, and I wish him nothing but success moving forward.' Gaugert concluded: 'After working with Garrick and finding the highest success in caddying, Garrick has become a better friend to me than just a boss. I will always be grateful for that.'
The 27-year-old Higgo said Gaugert was yelling at him to get to the tee box for his 7:18am tee time on Thursday, only for the golfer to arrive just past the allotted time. Higgo's mistake proved catastrophic. His first-round score of a three-under 67 turned into a one-under 69. The following day, he plummeted to a six-over 76, leaving him at four-over, just one stroke shy of the cut line.
Higgo was on the practice putting green, which is not considered the starting area, and was assessed the penalty. 'I wouldn't have been late if I knew I was running late,' said Higgo. 'I was there at 7:18 and 30 seconds. I was there on time, but the rule is if you're one second late, you're late.' He added: 'If you know me, then you know I am very casual and laid back. I thought I had time. I was obviously too casual.'
