May 14 (Reuters) - South Africa's Garrick Higgo was penalised two strokes for being late to the tee during the opening round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club on Thursday but ended the day just two shots off the lead with a one-under-par 69.
Higgo, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, was scheduled to tee off from the par-four first hole in the 7:18 a.m. ET (1118 GMT) grouping alongside former champion Shaun Micheel and Michael Brennan.
The 27-year-old was on the practice putting green but
not within the area defined as the starting point at his starting time.
Thankfully for Higgo, he arrived at the tee within five minutes of his scheduled tee time. Had he shown up later, he would have been disqualified from the tournament.
"If you know me, then you know I am very casual and laid back," Higgo said. "I thought I had time. I was obviously too casual, yeah.
"If anything, I could have added maybe five minutes for the walk from the range to the tee," he added. "I just cut it a little fine."
Higgo was glad the punishment was not heavier.
"I was just happy they allowed me to tee off," he said. "I was bummed when he said I had a two-shot penalty. I just said to myself, it's going to be a great opportunity to shoot a low score."
World number one Scottie Scheffler and former champion Martin Kaymer were among those in a seven-way share of the lead on three-under par.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto. Additional reporting Angelica Medina; Editing by Toby Davis and Peter Rutherford)
