Aronimink Golf Club, Pennsylvania. Garrick Higgo, a South African golfer, was hit with a two-shot penalty for being late to work. Despite this setback, he managed to shoot an opening 69 and finished the day at 3 under par.
Garrick Higgo was hit with a two-shot penalty on Thursday before he even hit his opening drive. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. —Welcome to Good, Bad and Ugly, where like Garrick Higgo , we’ve been late to work … but, you know, notat 3 under par.
Higgo gets the award for strangest headline of the day and there were plenty of of good, bad and ugly moments across Aronimink Golf Club all day long. Here’s what caught our eye:It’s hard to fathom that Scheffler has never led or co-led after the opening round of a major, but that stat is kaput after Scheffler shot a 3-under 67 on Thursday.
He was one of seven players to post that number on Thursday, and he’ll be right back on the course Friday morning with a chance to grab momentum heading into the weekend.. That’s what befell Garrick Higgo on Thursday morning after he was late arriving from the putting green. But to his credit, the South African shook it off, went back to work and shot an opening 69.
—celebrating Philadelphia freedom and America, but 76 is no good inside the ropes. Bryson DeChambeau’s only birdie was on his last hole Thursday after a sloppy 17 holes that included a double bogey at the par-3 8th when he played hockey back-and-forth over the green. The LIV star missed the cut at the Masters and barring a huge Friday he’ll be home for another major weekend.
—In just his sixth major-championship start, the big-hitting 21-year-old from South Africa grabbed the early clubhouse lead with a three-under 67. He missed the cut in four of his previous five majors, but looks ready to make some noise this week, and not just with a driver in his hand.
It was a surprise to see the World No. 2 finish third in his group on Thursday, as he trailed both Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm after a plodding 4-over 74. Afterward, McIlroy began his post-round comments with a brief but memorable summation. The reigning Masters champion eventually expanded on that answer, but he will need to be much better on Friday just to make the weekend, much less contend.
The PGA Championship has historically been the 2023 U.S. Open champ’s worst major, with three missed cuts in five starts and a best finish of T50. He may not have a chance to better that after a Thursday 75 that included back-to-back double bogeys at Nos. 3 and 4.
—Who knows whether LIV Golf will survive to next year, but if it does, Martin Kaymer might not be on it—he has played so poorly this season that he’s in the league’s relegation zone. Sohe’s in the logjam of early leaders at the PGA Championship. The 2010 PGA champ was 118th in driving distance Thursday but hit plenty of fairways, was T11 in greens hit and 13th in strokes-gained putting.
It’s not rocket science, even when you’re 1,160th in the world. But still … Martin Kaymer? —The PGA has rules in place for player conduct, where two violations could lead to penalty strokes and three could bring a DQ. So we’re curious where Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas might stand after separate blow-ups during their respective first rounds.
“Yeah, it hit him, and unfortunately it hit him in the shoulder and then the face. Which I couldn't feel any worse... ”Jeff Ritter is the managing director of SI Golf. He has more than 20 years of sports media experience, and previously was the general manager at the Morning Read, where he led that business’s growth and joined SI as part of an acquisition in 2022.
Earlier in his career he spent more than a decade at SI and Golf Magazine, and his journalism awards include a MIN Magazine Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award for sports reporting. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a master’s from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. John Schwarb is a senior editor for Sports Illustrated covering golf.
Prior to joining SI in March 2022, he worked for ESPN.com, PGATour.com, Tampa Bay Times and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He is the author of The Little 500: The Story of the World’s Greatest College Weekend. A member of the Golf Writers Association of America, Schwarb has a bachelor’s in journalism from Indiana University.
Garrick Higgo Aronimink Golf Club Late Arrival Penalty Opening Round Major Championship Bryson Dechambeau LIV Star Masters South Africa Golf Course Post-Round Comments
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