PGA Tour caddie reveals Garrick Higgo split was “probably coming anyway”

An unnamed PGA Tour caddie has told GolfMagic that Garrick Higgo’s split with former caddie Austin Gaugert had “probably been coming anyway” despite the pair’s costly mix-up at last week’s PGA Championship.

Higgo and Gaugert parted ways in the immediate aftermath of the second men’s major of the year at Aronimink after the South African was handed a two-shot penalty for arriving late to his opening tee time.

The penalty ultimately proved costly.

Higgo missed the cut by one shot and, without the sanction under Rule 5.3a, would not only have made the weekend but also tied for the first-round lead.

Speaking to GolfMagic, an unnamed PGA Tour caddie suggested the split was not solely down to the tee-time incident.

“It’s on both of them,” the caddie told GolfMagic of the mix-up involving Higgo being late for his first-round tee time at the PGA.

“But I’m not shocked by the split.

“Higgo’s form has been poor this year and think it had probably been coming anyway.

“There’s just a simple reason for it. He is a nice lad, Garrick.”

Higgo’s difficult 2026 season has seen the two-time PGA Tour winner slide from 64th to 94th in the Official World Golf Rankings.

The 27-year-old has missed seven cuts in 14 starts this season, with his best finish a tied-40th result at the Cognizant Classic in March.

Earlier this week, Gaugert broke his silence on the controversy by accepting full responsibility for the costly error in a lengthy social media statement.

“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.”

Television footage from the opening round showed Gaugert desperately gesturing for two-time PGA Tour winner Higgo to hurry to the tee, but the South African arrived only seconds too late and was penalised accordingly.

Higgo later defended himself after the round, saying: “I was there on time, but the rule is, if you’re one second late, you’re late.

“So if you think about it, I was there on time, if you know what I mean.”

Higgo has since reunited with former caddie Nick Cavendish-Pell, who was on the bag when he secured his maiden PGA Tour title at the 2021 Palmetto Championship.

The South African is back in action at this week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas and, unlike the drama at the PGA Championship, has safely made all his tee times.

Rounds of 69 and 67 moved Higgo to six-under-par and through to the weekend by one shot, although he remains 12 shots behind runaway leader Si Woo Kim.