An anonymous caddie has revealed he sought therapy after receiving verbal abuse from his player.
The undercover caddie spoke to Golf Digest about the circumstances that led to his decision. He said: “Words really can hurt. One player who I like used to call me ‘dumbass’ after every bad shot anytime we were in disagreement. He said it in jest but also as a way of deflection to preserve his self-confidence. If you keep hearing you’re a dumbass, you begin to think: ‘Well, maybe I am a dumbass.’”
The caddie then explained a dilemma over how to handle the situation persuaded him to seek help. He said: “This might sound a little funny, but I ended up seeing a therapist to talk about how to come to terms with it and how to stop it. I worried about how to bring this up with my player because if he didn’t react well, word would get out. Then I would be seen as weak, and my reputation on tour would have been done.”
Eventually, he explained, the situation resolved itself: “I never had to make that call; right around the time I started talking to the therapist, my player got hurt. I jumped on a new bag with a guy who is a bit boring but polite and have stayed there since.”
The caddie also explained how life on tour has unique pressures considering the fine line between success and failure. He said: “Golf is an emotional game, and the lines between great and good and between good and losing your card are so thin that every shot feels like it has greater meaning than it should. Living on that type of edge tends to expose nerves, and sometimes that turns into negative energy directed at us.”
The caddie also described an incident where, because of the high stakes, he took the the blame for a poor shot even though it wasn't his fault. He said: “Five years ago, near the end of the West Coast Swing, my player and I were doing well, but it was getting late, and we needed another birdie to make a playoff.
"We had an approach that I said required a good 9-iron. He wanted a soft 8. He got the last call, and the shot was way off to the right. I got an earful from my player, not because either of us was necessarily wrong but because I brought in doubt to the shot."
There are occasionally examples of spats between caddie and player caught on camera. For example, in March’s Valspar Championship, Matt Wallace was seen disagreeing with his caddie, Sam Bernard. However, the caddie explained that the reason similar incidents aren’t reported more often is because broadcasters are wise to the possibility of flare-ups as they seek to protect the image of the tours.
He said: “There’s a reason the guys you see on TV every week aren’t the ones who are guilty of berating their loops. If a player is routinely going at a caddie - at least being caught on camera going at a caddie - the tour will take the player aside and say: 'Hey, tone it down.'
"It’s not because the tour cares about us; it has an image to uphold, and a superstar chewing out his bagman after a bad shot doesn’t help the brand. For some of the habitual line-crossers, the networks know enough to cut away before showcasing anything too nasty.”
