Most Dramatic Caddie Fallouts in Golf

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

The 2017 Players Championship got under way with the news that Danny Willett and his long-time caddie Jon Smart, have parted company. It hardly comes as a surprise. They fell out during the first round of the Heritage at Harbour Town and, in truth, things have been on a downward spiral since Willett won The Masters.

The Sheffield golfer tends to get down on himself and those around him when things are not going his way, and not much has gone his way recently, meaning that Smart has been on the wrong end of Willett's temper on more than one occasion.

Willett has replaced Smart with Sam Haywood, who was his best man. Whether or not he will live to regret putting one of his closest friends on the bag remains to be seen. "Things had gone a bit stale," Willett said. "I just felt that it was time for a change."

Smart's version of events is surely somewhat different, especially as he claims that he is the one who did the sacking. But it got us thinking about other high-profile player-caddie relationships that have crashed and burned.

Billy Foster, who has carried Lee Westwood's bag for many years, was also a long-term caddie for Darren Clarke. Unusually, Foster sacked Clarke, claiming that the player was not living up to his huge potential. He went on to enjoy considerable success with Westwood, arguably the best player in the world not to have won a major.

In 2015, Mick Middlemo downed tools on Australian golfer Robert Allenby during the Canadian Open. It was the third time that Allenby’s caddie had quit during the round, this time leaving the player to find a spectator to carry his bag for the remaining holes. The trouble started at the par-five 13th at Glen Abbey, when Appleby and Middlemo disagreed over club selection for the approach shot. His subsequent shot found the creek in front of the green, which led to a heated confrontation and a triple bogey.

“My nerves have been rattled. I’m in shock,” Allenby said. “This is the worst incident I’ve ever witnessed as a player. I said to him (Middlemo), ‘You know this happens every week. We keep making bad mistakes and you’re not helping me in these circumstances’.

“He just lost the plot at me. He got right in my face as if he wanted to just beat me up. I said, ‘That’s it, you’re sacked’.”

Middlemo’s offered a different version of events. “Robert’s a pretty highly strung individual and he hasn’t been playing great of late,” Middlemo said. “We had a discussion about a club, then of course I copped the wrath of that. Then unfortunately the personal insults started. I’ve been called a bad caddie ... but when the personal insults come in and you’re being called a fat so-and-so ... I got a little bit peeved by it and then the third time he said it I walked up to him and basically said ‘I dare you to say that to me again’.

“He didn’t say it again. There was never going to be any violence ... I was just going to put the bag down, get my gear and leave.”

At the Barracuda Championship in 2014, Michael Lawson, who had caddied for Brian Stuard for three years, walked off the course after a heated argument. The pair had been arguing for several holes before Lawson put down the bag on the 12th and stormed off.  A woman in the gallery, Christy Atencio, wearing a dress and flip-flops, carried Stuard's bag for the final six holes.

How things change. Only weeks before, Stuard had said of Lawson: "He knows my game really well, and we have a nice working relationship. He knows what to say and what not to say. It's been really good, and I enjoy having him on my bag."

Seve Ballesteros, who was notoriously difficult to work for, had more caddies than most people have had hot breakfasts. At the 1997 Spanish Open he finished one round with his teenage nephew on the bag after Martin Gray, who had worked for the Spaniard for 12 months, stormed off at the 15th hole after Ballesteros hit his ball into a water hazard. Seve allegedly asked Gray for an apple and threw it away after taking a bite, claiming it was too soft. There had also been disagreements over bananas and oranges. Gray finally snapped: “What am I – a caddie or a greengrocer?” And with that, he was gone.

In 2013, LPGA player Jessica Korda sacked Jason Gilroyed in the middle of the third round of the U.S. Women's Open and replaced him with her boyfriend Johnny DelPrete. Korda said she and Gilroyed had had several disagreements over the first nine holes. ``It's a U.S. Open. It's a big week for me," she said after the round. ``It's one of the most important weeks for me of the year. I was just not in the right state of mind." So she pointed Gilroyed in the direction of the exit and turned to DelPrete and asked him to pick up the bag. After being five over par on the front nine, Korda played the back nine in one under. ``The first few holes I was very shaky, but my boyfriend/caddie kept me very calm out there and kept it very light," Korda said. ``And it was kind of funny seeing him fumble over yardage."

John McLaren sacked Luke Donald in 2015 after the pair had been together for six years. During that time, Donald earned more than £18m in prize money, meaning that McLaren would have pocketed about £2m. McLaren said: "There were a couple of things that stuck with me that I don’t want to talk about, but basically I just felt we’d run our course. I’ve nothing bad to say about Luke. We had six great years. I guess Luke’s ego might feel slightly dented because it is not often a caddie leaves a player."

Nick Faldo employed Fanny Sunesson for 10 years, poaching her from fellow pro Howard Clark in 1989. She was on Faldo's bag for four of his major victories and played a huge part in his success.  Faldo would be the first to admit that he was not the easiest man to work for, especially when things were not going well. But through it all, Sunesson was there. To be fair, she earned a great deal of money during her time with the six-time major champion but in 1999 she decided that she'd had enough and informed Faldo that she was quitting. "Naturally I am very saddened and disappointed at Fanny's decision," said Faldo. "She has been a consistent factor in my life over the past 10 years, both on and off the course, and during that time we have become great friends. I fully understand her decision and she, of course, goes with my good will and gratitude for the contribution she has made to my success."

When Ian Woosnam discovered he had 15 clubs in his bag while standing on the second tee during the final round of The Open at Lytham in 2001, he launched into his bagman, Miles Byrne. "You have one job to do," Woosnam said, referring to the fact that it was Byrne's responsibility to ensure that there were only 14 clubs in the bag. Woosie was in contention to win The Open until the offence, which meant he was given an immediate two-shot penalty. Not many people thought Byrne would survive beyond the end of the round, but he did. Woosnam decided to give his man a second chance. But Byrne's luck ran out at the Volvo Scandinavian Masters barely a month after The Open. The Welshman turned up for the final round and his 7.15am tee time, but there was no sign of his caddie. He eventually turned up but Woosnam sacked him on the spot. The player had to break into his own locker for his golf shoes as Byrne had the key and used the local caddie-master, Tommy Strand, as a stand-in for the day. Afterwards, Woosnam said: "I gave him a chance, I don't ask for much. He had one warning, that was it."