ESPN slammed for its treatment of punished PGA | Golf News

Garrick Higgo managed to make his tee time on Friday for the second spherical of the PGA Championship, but ESPN has confronted criticism for displaying a countdown on the printed following his expensive mistake.

Higgo arrived one minute late to his tee time on Thursday, after he was scheduled to start at 7:18 a.m. ET. Consequently, he acquired a two-stroke penalty for his tardiness, putting the World No. 85 at an quick drawback.

The South African golfer appealed to PGA Championship officers, but the choice stood, and Higgo confirmed up effectively in advance on Friday. Nevertheless, ESPN featured a ‘countdown to tee time’ graphic on the printed when highlighting Higgo during the second spherical.

Higgo reached the venue at 9:33 a.m., but did not start play until 12:43 p.m. Five minutes remained when the ESPN broadcast captured Higgo preparing to proceed to the tee box, and they displayed a countdown to monitor his progress and decide whether or not he would make it.

Following Thursday’s infraction, Higgo was never going to miss a second straight tee time. Yet, while it appeared to be a lighthearted joke after his unlucky penalty, followers expressed outrage on social media.

“The Garrick Higgo ‘countdown to tee time’ during round 2 of the PGA Championship was diabolical by ESPN,” one fan posted on X.

“A Garrick Higgo tee time countdown tracker is just insane work,” another commented. “Scottie Scheffler is playing golf and I see countdown to Garrick Higgo teeing off,” a third wrote. “Coverage of this Higgo thing is one of the dumbest things I’ve seen in a bit,” another claimed.

“The fact that they are filming Garrick Higgo with a countdown clock is absurd,” one fan said. “Why show actual golf shots when you can show Higgo standing around for 5 minutes waiting for his tee time?” Another posted.

“ESPN opting for Higgo coverage instead of showing golf shots. Really bad,” another concluded.

Higgo was visibly pissed off following his expensive mistake on Thursday, yet maintained he had no concept he was falling behind schedule, despite his caddie being noticed yelling at him.

“I wouldn’t have been late if I knew I was running late,” Higgo said after the first spherical. “Obviously, this is the first time it’s happened. I wasn’t sure quite what. I was just happy they allowed me to tee off, firstly, you know what I mean? I was bummed when he said I had a two-shot penalty.

“If me, then I’m very informal and laid back. I do not know. I do not need to be there 10 minutes early. I do know that 5 minutes is okay. I believed I had time. I used to be clearly too informal, yeah.”

Higgo managed to bounce back from his early penalty and finish three under par officially, though he would have posted five under had it not been for the two-stroke setback. Higgo met with PGA officials both before and after his round, but attempted to put the incident behind him while out on the course.

“I just told myself that I’m even par, because in the second as effectively, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be two pictures,” Higgo said. “Just attempt to like body it in a different way so I felt better about it, basically. Nothing particular.”