THE RIGHT-HAND MAN

I played one of my best rounds of golf in Vietnam recently and I had to thank my caddy for that. Her name is Be, an experienced caddy for eight years. Her work on the golf course was great. Without a single prompt from me, she raked every single bunker I stepped in and cleaned the debris off my golf ball once it hit the greens. Be also understood my distances very well after just a few holes. Her reading of the greens were spot-on and most importantly, she was always ready to provide a reassuring smile after my bad shots.

The following day, I had a round to forget and my caddy didn’t help much. I forgave for reading the lines wrongly, as it was my prerogative to make that putt. I also forgave her for not cleaning my ball. If the putts are way off, a bit of surface dirt won’t change the result. She did not have a pen to record my scores, but that’s fine as well. As a writer, I always carried one and I passed mine to her.

The thing that kinda pissed me off was this negative energy she was emanating. She looked totally disinterested throughout the game except after my last putt at 18th. When my shots veered off course, she looked on the ground, sighed and shook her head. Encouraging much?

Caddies are a big deal indeed. Just ask Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Tiger fired Steve Williams for allegedly, caddying for Adam Scott at recent tournaments without his blessings.

Rory McIlroy showed his fiery side when he shot back at TV pundit Jay Townsend. Townsend publicly criticized his caddy, JP Fitzgerald during the Irish Open. He tweeted, “@wenners just made a great point, @mcilroyrory should hire Stevie Williams, as I thought JP allowed some SHOCKING course management today.”

McIlroy replied, “@JayATownsend shut up.... You're a commentator and a failed golfer, your opinion means nothing!”

I’m sure Woods and McIlroy have their respective reasons for their actions. They want the best people to help them succeed at the highest level of the game.

For Rory, things are on the ascendancy after his US Open victoy and we’ll see if his caddy can guide him to another major win at the PGA Championship.

For Tiger though, I’m sticking my neck out and say that his legendary reign will officially end this year. The dismissal of his caddy seemed petty. It’ll definitely take more than a personnel change to get his game back on track.

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