Norway's Viktor Hovland is one of the world's best golfers and has been among that group for the majority of his professional career so far.
He has won 11 times and been a part of two Ryder Cup rosters for Team Europe - standing on the successful side in 2023.
The Norwegian has also recorded top-10 finishes in three of the four Majors, with only a notable result at the US Open evading him so far, and has reached a high of World No.3.
And, interestingly, through it all he has only had one man at his side on the course - Shay Knight.
Knight has been a caddie for over 15 years now and before Hovland he worked with players like Matt Jones, Aron Price, DJ Trahan, Martin Laird, Chez Reavie, Jerry Kelly and Sean O’Hair.
How he ended up on Hovland's bag is interesting. The Norwegian did have his Oklahoma State college coach Alan Bratton on the bag in early 2019 but as he looked to turn pro, he wanted a more permanent caddie in place.
After meeting Knight at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, the pair eventually formed a partnership thanks to the role of Rickie Fowler's former caddie, Joe Skovron.
“Joe called me,” Knight told The Caddie Network. “It was no secret that Viktor would be turning pro at some point this year. Like Viktor, Rickie went to OSU – there’s a strong contingent of OSU guys on the PGA Tour and most are represented by the Wasserman Media Group, including Rickie and Viktor now.
"Joe asked me if I’d have any interest in caddying for Viktor when the decision to turn pro was official and my answer, obviously, was yes.”
Their first official week together was at the 2019 Travelers Championship where he finished in a tie for 54th.
“That first week was sort of an assessment for both of us,” Knight said. “I think the first week, from a mental side, you know if you’ll click or not, in my opinion. Travelers week was to see if we would get on well with each other.
"That’s half the battle. You need to get on well and have something to talk about to stay engaged in something other than golf to take the stress out of the tournament itself.”
It did not take long for Hovland to impress Knight too.
“He has the ability to take one side of the golf course out of play, which is huge,” Knight said. “He drives it very straight. I’m also impressed with his mental approach. He’s a very calm guy. He can get angry, but lets it go quickly. It’s really exciting for me. I’m as excited now as when I first came out on Tour to be able to watch a kid grow out here.”
In terms of the man himself, Knight was born in Sydney, Australia but did not play college golf prior to starting life as a looper. His favorite golfer growing up was Brett Ogle and has always enjoyed spending time at the beach.
From a golfing perspective, the Australian said to The Caddie Network back in 2018 that his dream fourball would consist of Mila Kunis, Blake Shelton and Aaron Rodgers and that his favorite course to have played is Old Sandwich.
Knight's favorite course to caddie at has been Pebble Beach and his most cherished golfing memory was playing Cypress Point on "one of those perfect Monterey days." On a similar note, he loved walking across Hogan's Bridge at Augusta National for the first time.
His favorite food is seafood and he loves to drink Tito's vodka. The best movie he has ever seen is Shawshank Redemption.
In an interview after the 2025 Valspar Championship, which Hovland won, Knight revealed that he and the Norwegian chat about conspiracy theories and other subjects regarding potential alien life when out on the course in order to keep things light.
