Tommy Fleetwood’s preparations for The Masters have been dealt a blow due to the absence of his long-time caddie Ian Finnis, who is recovering from a chest infection.
The Englishman has addressed that issue by enlisting the services of the former caddie master at Augusta National, Gray Moore, for his eighth successive appearance at the Major.
Despite that relatively long run of starts at Augusta National, Fleetwood’s Masters record is mediocre, with a T14 two years ago his best effort to date. However, in Moore he could barely have picked someone with more experience of the course - he began working at Augusta National in 1996 and is nicknamed “Mr Augusta.”
Fleetwood has known Moore for a number of years after previously using him as a caddie in Masters practice rounds earlier in his career.
"Yeah, he's not been well all year. At the moment he's at home trying to recover and get the right treatment," Fleetwood said of his usual looper Finnis.
"Hopefully he'll be back out sooner rather than later. Yeah, it's definitely different being without him. Like we've been together every tournament for the last eight years pretty much.
"So, yeah, we just wish him all the best. The sooner he can get better, the better for all of us. Everybody has been asking about him, which has been great. I know he'll be desperate to come back out here as soon as possible.
"This week, my caddie is called Gray Moore, so he's an Augusta caddie. The first two or three years that I came here I always had Gray in practice and would always sit and speak to him. So I've known him well for the last few years and I just asked if he could do it this week."
Moore has plenty of experience with others who have taken on Augusta National, too, including one of the honorary starters at the year’s tournament, Tom Watson, who enlisted his services in 2004. Moore also worked with Andrea Lee at the 2019 Augusta National Women’s Amateur as she finished T26.
During last week’s Valero Texas Open, Fleetwood gave an update on Finnis’ condition, and expressed his hope he would still be fit for The Masters.
Per PGATour.com, Fleetwood said: “He was sick before Christmas. He came out at the start of the year, and he’s basically had some sort of infection. It’s been prolonged. He’s definitely moving in the right direction. Hopefully he’ll be good enough to come out next week.”
Despite the event coming too soon for Finnis, Fleetwood will be hoping the temporary link-up with Moore stands him in good stead, particularly after he competes in the tournament on the back of at T7 at TPC San Antonio, where his temporary caddie was TaylorMade tour fitter Adrian Rietveld.
That was Fleetwood’s best result since victory in January’s Dubai Invitational, his seventh on the DP World Tour. Another high point of Fleetwood’s year so far came a month later when he finished T10 at one of the PGA Tour’s prestigious signature events, the Genesis Invitational.
With the help of Moore, Fleetwood will be hoping he can build on those results with the highlight of his career to date – his first Masters title.
Elsewhere, Tyrrell Hatton will also have a temporary caddie, with Hugo Dobson filling in after Mick Donaghy sustained a shoulder injury.
