Blame the caddie for the oversight that cost Woosie two precious shots

[Kilroy]

Woosnam was in a 4 way tie for the lead on Sunday at the Open. After making birdie the first hole he had a one shot lead, until his caddie Myles Byrne said to him "You're going to go ballistic," as Woosnam prepared to tee off on number 2. "We have two drivers in the bag." Fifteen clubs, one over the limit.

Woosie had been on the practice tee experimenting with drivers, undecided about which one to use. There was confusion ove who had the 2:25 tee time, Woosnam thought he was at 2:25, but discovered that Langer and Duval were. Woosnam's caddy was not sure. Woosnam was in the group ahead of them. Woosnam made it to the 1st tee with three minutes to spare. Byrne, finally got around to counting the clubs on the 2nd tee.

"He's a good caddie; I'm not going to sack him," Woosie said on Sunday evening. That's what Jean Van de Velde said about his looper, Christophe Angiolini, following their triple-bogey debacle on the 72nd hole in the British Open at Carnoustie two years ago. By the PGA Championship four weeks later, Angiolini was gone.

Byrne took all the blame at Royal Lytham. "The buck stops with me," he said. That's the correct thing to say, but it won't be enough. Woosman will probably be on the European Ryder Cup team come September. The odds on poor Byrne making it are long. A man had a chance to win his national championship, and now that chance is gone.

Maybe I am a hardass, but I would have sacked him on the spot and carried the bag myself. There are certain caddie essentials. Knowing a player's tee time is an essential. So is counting your player's clubs on the 1st tee. Cadying on the PGA tour is a profession, and these fellas make good money. A caddie must be able to count to 14. It's a job requirement.

[Gary Hill]

I would have sacked him on the spot and carried the bag myself.

Tour players are not allowed to play without a caddie.


I agree Tour caddies are paid big money to count the clubs. but I am getting pretty tired of Tour professionals blaming caddies, rules officials, event organizers, and course conditions for their failure to win.

Tee times get changed with cancellations, clocks on the practice green don't match clocks on the first tee, players borrow clubs from friends on the practice tee, and cars break down on the way to the course. **it happens!!

Bobby Jones almost missed the final round at the 1926 British Open (which he won) because he was stopped at the gate and didn't have the required half-crown for admittance.

The caddie didn't get the penalty. The player did. So if I was teeing off in the final round of the Open you can be sure I would count MY clubs.

P.S. I hope you don't sack me if I happen to make ONE mistake with the rules.

[Kilroy]

If I am leading the British Open, and you cost me the tournament you bet I would.

hehehe, No worries mate.

Everyone makes mistakes. Where I come from, you get sacked for REALLY HUGE mistakes. You can get sacked for way less than that

I know that the player is ultimately responsible. The player pays the caddy and delegates chores to him. It was still the caddies job, which he did not do properly. Just what was the caddie being paid for anyway? A 12 year old boy can lug the bag around the course for minimum wage.

If my employee screws up I am responsible. I will take the heat from the client (penalty) and pass it on to the employee. If it costs me a million dollar account and $20 million in potential revenues (through endorsements), I am not even sorry, he is history.

[Gary Hill]

Just what was the caddie being paid for anyway?
A 12 year old boy can lug the bag around the course for minimum wage.

Do you really believe that caddies make $250,000 a year by luggin the bag and counting to 14?

A 12 year old luggin your bag may be a caddie to you, but it is a personal secretary, valet, chauffeur, phychologist, flight booking agent, appointment scheduler, swing coach, yardage recorder, green reader, confidant, friend, and bag lugger to a Tour pro.

[Dustin]

I would fire him on the spot as well.

Being a caddie is like any other job. If you messed up BIG time like that in any workplace, you would not have a job the next day.

Just like people in the workplace there are tons of people as good as you ready to replace you.

Dustin

[jazman]

Many of these guys rub their caddies head or have some other ludicrous need to have them around. A good caddie is so much more than a bag-lugger..

Have you not seen "Bagger Vance"? LOL

I can't even take myself seriously after that!!!

[Kilroy]

My point was that we expect more from a professional cady than to just tote the bag.

[jazman]

Just lightening up the board is all.....

[HÄnd|cÄp]

I never laughed so hard!, the caddie is dumb, the player is dumb!...I would have fired the caddy and then admitted I'm an ass!, did you see the look he gave the caddy on the 18th after he finished putting out. I thought he was gonna Pile Drive him.

I think the caddy should have pretended to go take a pee in the forest and quietly buried the club to save face!, wait a minute, there are no forests, i'm sure he could found a good hiding spot in one of the 2897 bunkers on that cow pasture...

and how about Mike Weir ?

[NoBack]

i agree it is the caddies job to count the clubs BUT it IS ALSO the responsibility of the player and player alone to know what is in the bag. If he was practicing with two drivers on the practice tee then it was his choice and SHOULD have know that he had two drivers in the bag. If he was rushing to meet his tee time and forgot about it, is that not the players fault for not knowing his tee time was coming up. Do the caddies deal directly with the PGA? I would think the players are the ones that are informed of their tee times and collect the paychecks, not the caddies.
Jack Nicklaus ALWAYS counted his clubs on the first tee out of habit and it never costed him any strokes.
Bottom line ......the player pays the bills and is ultimately responsible for everything. Saying that does not mean he cant or shouldn't fire him but ..........

[Gary Hill]

Jack Nicklaus actually was penalized for too many clubs many, many years ago when his young son stuck a cut down club into the bottom of his bag.

Nicholas remarked that he had counted his clubs before and during the round, but failed to notice it until late in the round when he dropped his glove in the bag and turned the bag upside down to retrieve it.

BTW - Tom Lehman did not fire his caddie a few weeks ago when his was DQ'd for too many clubs in the final round of the Buick Open.

[spidey]

OMG

Woosie was at fault for not taking matters into his own hands! What a convenient scapegoat to blame the caddie. The caddie should have remembered. Woosie should have remembered. BOTH forgot. 2 strokes, period! If he was serious about his chances at the Open, then he would have counted his clubs the minute he took the first step to the first tee.

Even worse was the hysterics on international TV. Tsk, tsk.

As for sacking the caddie.... He only got to be Woosnam's caddie by being good enough. He will learn from this mistake, and likely never make it again. He may be a better gamble from that perspective than a caddie who has yet to make the mistake. (Obviously, I don't buy the story about 'anybody' can be a caddie - why do so many Pro's try to get scratch players, or other pro's on their bags?)

spidey

[HÄnd|cÄp]

:

Kevin Haime wrote a good article on the uselessness of a caddie in this week's Sunday Sun...check it out if you get the chance!

[jazman]

I was watching on Sunday and saw an interview with Jack, he claims he was caddying and let Gary play with one too many clubs. Different story or a mixed up one?

[Gary Hill]

Different story.

The story came from Jack himself about three years ago in a Golf Talk Live segment on the Golf Channel. I have searched the web for references, but was unable to find any.

Other than my memory, I have no proof.

[jazman]

Funny though....

How many father/son duos can say they have made that same error while carrying the others bag in a tourney!

[Gary Hill]

Parents are not allowed to caddie on the Cisco Systems Junior Tour. This saves a lot of problems with parents or kids going "balistic" if a mistake is made.

[Gary Hill]

Woosie fires caddie.

http://www.golfweb.com/u/ce/multi/0,...164588,00.html

[spidey]

:dunce

What a pathetic loser, or alternately an amazingly unlucky fellow.



spidey

[Dustin]

lol thats actually funny that he didn't show up!

[Kilroy]

OMG I don't believe it!

[Kilroy]

This is getting silly.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/gol...wales_open_ap/

[spidey]

This is starting to smell of the Fluff and Tiger show. I don't blame Tiger for dumping Cowan in part because he was getting too much press. Tiger already has all he needs, no sense in making it bigger than it already is.

Honestly, Woosie just needs to settle back into his old routine, and give himself a chance to carry on with his good play. If his caddie travails get any bigger he hasn't got a hope of settling down and making the Ryder Cup team.

spidey