Group Created with Sketch.

A caddie rivalry? No, explains Ted Scott; Korean cuisine, weather in France and more in this week’s caddie social media round up

By T.J. Auclair · October 21, 2019
Francesco Molinari
Francesco Molinari announced last Thursday that he has parted ways with caddie Pello Iguaran. Credit: Ian Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning, folks. We begin this week’s caddie social media round up with some news no caddie ever wants to get — “you’re fired” — but this particular caddie handled it with remarkable grace and the kind of attitude and perspective that surely will not leave him unemployed for long.

The caddie? Pello Iguaran. Iguaran was let go Thursday after four seasons with Francesco Molinari, a stretch which included a victory in the 2018 Open Championship.

Molinari shared the news on Twitter, with kind words for Iguaran:

In a series of tweets, Iguaran couldn’t have shown more class in what had to have been a difficult situation.

Incredible perspective.

Oh, and the other news to come out of this? Justin Rose’s former longtime caddie, Mark “Fooch” Fulcher will be Molinari’s new caddie beginning in 2020. It will certainly be nice to see Fooch back out there.

*********************

Everybody loves a little smack talk — and especially in golf when it happens so infrequently… or at least infrequently in the eyes of the public.

However, the smack was in full effect last week before the start of the CJ Cup, when world No. 1 Brooks Koepka was asked about a rivalry with Rory McIlroy.

Here’s what Koepka offered up:

“I’ve been out here for, what, five years. Rory hasn’t won a major since I’ve been on the PGA Tour. So I just don’t view it as a rivalry.”

Ouch. Though it was a pretty sick burn, McIlroy conceded during Monday’s Skins Challenge that Koepka’s assessment — as raw and honest as it was — wasn’t necessarily wrong.

“I think it’s hard,” McIlroy said. “We all get asked about it in press conferences, about other players where it’s, ‘Why are these guys asking me about someone else? Aren’t we supposed to be here to talk about me?’ And what Brooks said wasn’t wrong. He’s been the best player for a couple years, four majors. I don’t think he had to remind me I hadn’t won one in a while, but you know.”

McIlroy continued, “I said a couple of things after the Tour Championship in terms of I approached that final round like a little bit of a rivalry because he got one over on me at Memphis and I sort of wanted to get him back. I think that’s good for the game.”

It sure is good for the game. And it was terrific stuff for social media.

Bubba Watson’s caddie, Ted Scott, offered up one of our favorite lines about the whole thing.

Last week, Scott also had the chance to play at famed Riviera with Watson — a three-time winner of the Tour’s annual event there. Scott conducted a fun interview with Watson to try and get to the bottom of why the lefty is so good at Riv.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B30RMhjFo1L/

Also, we got this sweet slo-mo of Scott’s swing.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B32qV6bFYfE/

*********************

Across the Pacific Ocean in Korea, Kenny Harms (Kevin Na) was naturally searching for a solid pizza. He didn’t have high hopes, but came away pleasantly surprised.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3rPCSSFTXL/

And when Harms arrived in Japan for this week’s ZOZO Championship, he was greeted by a nice gift from tournament organizers — chopsticks and two bottles of sake:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B31yPfnlNCO/

You may have seen some fun videos with caddies Pete Persolja (Crunchy Pete) and Kyle Peters last week at the CJ Cup. This one was arguably our favorite, as Crunchy Pete shows you some of the snacks — almost like a mini-mart — on the first tee and then proceeds to eat a small apple whole:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3r-n3gFd9f/

Crunchy Pete and the boys also took in some fresh, local cuisine:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3rXamKlkmy/

Much like caddie Todd Montoya, we’re not quite sure what sort of drill we’re looking at here:

*********************

Kip Henley was in France last week to caddie for Stewart Cink in the European Tour’s French Open. Unfortunately for Kip and Stewart (and, well, the rest of the field), the weather did not cooperate:

And it couldn’t have been easy juggling an umbrella, a golf bag, towels and more while also needing to figure all this out:

*********************

J.T. Poston’s caddie, Aaron Flener, has had a little time off lately. But that doesn’t mean he’s just relaxing with the feet up on the ottoman. Last Monday, he trekked up to Green Bay for Monday Night Football with caddie buddies Joe Etter and Stewart Slover. This past weekend, Flener was in Athens, Ga., for the football game between the University of Georgia and his beloved Kentucky Wildcats. Unfortunately for Flener, the Dawgs prevailed 21-0.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B327ZKChQ7c/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

On a more serious note, Flener was among many to step up on social media and defend PGA Tour player Matt Every, who was suspended from the Tour for 12 weeks. Every said he tested positive for cannabis – a drug that he has been legally prescribed for a “mental-health condition.”

Here’s what Flener had to say about the situation…

T.J. Auclair

T.J. Auclair is the Director of Content for The Caddie Network and has covered professional golf since 1998, traveling to over 70 major championships.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Articles

Latest Articles