Korn Ferry Tour Pro Hit With Two-Shot Penalty For Being 8 Seconds Late

Ian Gilligan was given a two-shot penalty on the Korn Ferry Tour for missing his tee time by eight seconds — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Korn Ferry Tour pro Ian Gilligan was hit with one of the harshest penalties we've seen for some time as he was given a two-shot sanction for being late - by eight seconds!

The 23-year-old says he arrived at the first tee for his opening round at the BMW Charity Pro-Am just eight seconds after his scheduled start time of 6:56am ET.

Gilligan says he had to wait over 10 minutes for a shuttle, which players need to get from the practice ground to the first tee at the Country Club of Spartanburg in South Carolina.

But despite that wait, and being just seconds late, he told Golfweek "I take full responsibility" adding "I should've kept everything in my control. It's a learning experience".

It sounds like a highly unfortunate two-shot penalty, with the Korn Ferry Tour event using multiple courses requiring players to be driven by shuttles from the practice area.

Gillingham, who carded a one-over 71 in the first round thanks to his penalty, even said he had to share a ride in the end, having arrived at the pick-up point at 6:40am for the five-minute drive.

After watching two other players drive themselves to the course, he stood and waited nervously, while even joking with his caddie about suffering the same feat as Garrick Higgo at the PGA Championship.

Garrick Higgo and his caddie walk along the fairway at the 2026 PGA Championship — Garrick Higgo missed his tee time at the PGA Championship

"Are we going to get Garrick Higgo-ed?" his caddie said to him, and he indeed suffered the same two-shot penalty as the South African now infamously did at Aronimink.

Gilligan, who is ranked 13th on the Korn Ferry Tour, even admitted Higgo's penalty "boggled my mind" and said at the time that "it seemed so careless" of him to miss his tee time.

But now the University of Florida graduate is acutely aware that every second counts when it comes to making your tee time as a pro.

"If I ever have to take shuttle again, I will give myself more time," he said after picking up what many believe is a needless penalty, but is obviously easier to do than some think.

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.