Local Knowledge

Team Game: Inside the life of the modern PGA Tour caddie

Episode Summary

The easiest part of a PGA Tour caddie’s job might be giving his player yardage. It’s everything else that’s grown more complicated. In this episode, Daniel Rapaport talks to tour caddies and their players about how the job has changed, and why some players are increasingly turning to friends and family over veterans with decades of experience.

Episode Notes

No job in golf has evolved more than the tour caddie. Once just a set of shoulders to carry a bag, caddies have grown to assume different roles for different players. Some have been elevated to where they’re mentioned in the same breath as the guys hitting the shot. Others are just friends or family with no prior caddying experience but serve as a player’s trusted ally and protector. The job has simultaneously grown more complicated thanks to the myriad demands on tour; and easier because of new tools at their disposal. In this episode, Daniel Rapaport talks to caddies and the players they work for about the new responsibilities for caddies, how partnerships are formed, and what happens when those relationships go south.