What Happens If You Miss Your Tee Time?

If you're within five minutes you'll get away with just a penalty. Any longer and it's a DQ...

What Happens If You Miss Your Tee Time?

In the opening round of the 2020 WGC-Mexico Championship, Paul Casey almost missed his tee time after believing it was 10 minutes later than what it actually was.

The Englishman thought he was off at 10.37am when in fact his tee time was actually 10.27am.

Luckily for Casey, thanks to some running, he just about made the time and then proceeded to birdie the opening hole.

But what happens if a player does miss their tee time?

Rule 5.3a states that golfers must tee off at the exact time of their allotted tee time, no earlier or no later.

If a golfer tees off less than five minutes early, they receive a general penalty, which is two strokes.

It is the same if a golfer tees off less than five minutes later, too.

However, if a golfer tees off more than five minutes earlier or later than the allotted tee time, the player is disqualified.

The general penalty in match play is a loss of hole, so if your opponent arrives to the tee a couple of minutes late or even tees off slightly early from your allotted time, you can consider yourself 1-up.

This nearly happened at the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah when Rory McIlroy had to receive a police escort to the course.

The Northern Irishman thought he was out an hour later due to TV broadcasts stating he was off at 12.25pm when he was actually off an hour earlier.

Thet TV broadcasts were correct, but Rory didn't realise they were stating the time in Eastern Time, not Chicago's Central Time.

It resulted quite well for him in the end, as he beat Keegan Bradley to help inspire the 'Miracle at Medinah', a stunning comeback for Team Europe from 10-6 down.

He also met his future wife Erica Stoll thanks to that mix up, as she was the PGA of America employee who helped him make the tee time.

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