PGA Tour caddie lands new job days after being sacked over rules blunder

Garrick Higgo's former caddie Austin Gaugert has landed a new job, days after being sacked by the South African.

Higgo hit the headlines during the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania. 

The 27-year-old arrived a matter of seconds late to his first round tee time and was docked two shots. 

The blunder ended up costing Higgo significantly as he missed the cut by one stroke. 

Higgo then went viral for his bizarre defence, telling reporters: "I was there on time, but late... if you think about it, I was there on time."

Last week, Golfweek reported that Higgo had made the decision to part ways with Gaugert and replace the looper with his good buddy Nick Cavendish-Pell for this week's Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. 

One caddie told GolfMagic that the split had likely been coming for a while, regardless of the mix-up at the PGA Championship. 

Gaugert took the sacking on the chin, explaining in a statement that he took full responsibility for what transpired. 

He has already found employment as he was spotted on Dylan Wu's bag on Thursday at the Charles Schwab Challenge. 

Wu carded a level par opening in the first round to six strokes adrift of the leaders. 

Wu is struggling for form on the PGA Tour this year and arrived in Texas having missed five straight cuts in a row. 

What happened?

Higgo was denied a share of the overnight first round lead at the 2026 PGA Championship after receiving a two-shot penalty for arriving late to his tee time. 

Although could be seen on the nearby putting green, tournament officials said Higgo was "not within the area defined as the starting point at his starting time".

He was given the penalty under Rule 5.3a. 

Higgo explained that he had not heard his caddie yelling at him and when he arrived to the tee one of his playing partners had already hit their first shot. 

"I always cut it fine and this morning was pretty cold," Higgo, who was still on the practice putting green, told Sky Sports.

"I never want to get to the tee 10 minutes before and get cold when I have to hit a driver.

"Usually I hit five putts before I go to the tee and went there thinking I had five minutes - but I obviously did not.

"I hit one putt, I thought I heard my name, my caddie was yelling at me and I ran down."

Had Higgo been five minutes late, he would have been disqualified. 

He was due to tee off at 7:18am alongside former champion Shaun Micheel and Michael Brennan.

Higgo argued his case on the course and in scoring but the decision wasn't overturned. 

He missed the cut by one stroke. England's Aaron Rai pulled clear in the final round to win his first major title. 

Last week, Golfweek were the first to report Higgo and Gaugert split. 

Gaugert laer released a statement of his own, explaining that Higgo handled the situation with "professionalism and class".

"I want to say something about the incident with Garrick Higgo being late to the tee on Thursday at the PGA Championship," he wrote.

"As a caddie, you try to do everything you can to prepare your player for competition and I fell short of that.

"Garrick was understanding throughout the situation and handled it with professionalism and class.

"This has happened to players before and will again. Garrick handled a difficult situation with grace, and I wish him nothing but success moving forward.

"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."