The 2020 Masters is creeping up on us and, let’s face it, it can’t get here soon enough.
Will there be a pre-tournament Cinderella Story?
Actor Michael O’Keefe hopes so. O’Keefe – an Oscar-nominated actor – is most well-known to golf fans for his portrayal of caddie Danny Noonan in the comedic classic, Caddyshack.
A few weeks back, O’Keefe, who caddied at Winged Foot as a teenager, looped two practice rounds there at the U.S. Open for PGA Professional Danny Balin.
RELATED: PGA Professional will have Caddyshack star on the bag for U.S. Open practice rounds
As O’Keefe told us while recording the ‘Under the Strap’ podcast, he’s really hoping to score a loop at Augusta National in November for any pro willing to take him.
“Well, you know, like I said – and I hope I made it really clear to you guys – I have a lot of respect for what you (caddies) do,” O’Keefe said. “But I’m putting it out there that I would love to get a bag at the Masters. And I don’t want that to come across the wrong way, because I’m still smarting at all the tweets that Kip sent my way once he knew I was going to have a bag at the Open, because like all other caddies, he was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding. Danny Noonan has a bag at the Open, but I don’t?’ You might have caddies threatening suicide if I got a bag at the Masters. Or there might be like four guys standing outside the gate at Augusta National saying, ‘Hey, I want to talk to you before you go in there for just a minute.’”
Veteran caddie Kip Henley, who also joined the podcast, was pretty confident that O’Keefe might just land a bag at Augusta National.
“Michael, I’ll go off the board for a hundred bucks that when someone hears this on the PGA Tour, I’ll bet in the worst-case scenario that somebody picks you up for the Par 3,” Henley said. “I’ll bet you a hundred dollars to a doughnut, someone will pick you up to do that, so I’m glad you said that.”
“I’m here to tell you right now – if somebody wanted me to caddie for them in the Par 3, I would be there in a heartbeat,” O’Keefe said. “I had so much fun (at the U.S. Open). It was so great. I would love to do that.”
After the show, O’Keefe sent an email to The Caddie Network stressing that his desire to caddie at Augusta National is no stunt…
“If someone asks, I’d love to caddie at Augusta,” he reiterated. “The Par 3 tournament would be great. Practice rounds on the full 18 would be so cool, and the actual tournament, which is probably out of reach, would be beyond my wildest dreams.”
If you’re a player or a player/caddie team participating in the Masters Par 3 Contest and might be interested in having Noonan along for the ride, hit up our @CaddieNetwork DMs on Twitter and we’ll put you in contact.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST IN THE PLAYER BELOW:
