Environmentally-friendly pin sheets, testing out stun guns, caddie parking like you’ve never seen and more
By T.J. Auclair · November 4, 2019
It was a busy week for the PGA Tour with two events being contested.
First, Rory McIlroy earned a win in the WGC-HSBC Champions in China, defeating Xander Shauffele in a playoff.
Then, over in the inaugural Bermuda Championship, Brendon Todd fired a final-round 62 for a four-stroke victory over Harry Higgs.
Let’s start in China, where a favorite caddie in this space — Aaron Flener (J.T. Poston) — let us in on some of his experiences there, including this not-what-you-typically-see-on-the-PGA-Tour pin sheet:
Pins sheets are environmentally conscious this week. pic.twitter.com/bZZ19MSDo4
— Aaron Flener (@AaronFlener) October 30, 2019
Flener also snuck in some sightseeing:
Guys, Shanghai has a place for every occasion. For instance, you can go here when you just can’t find anything to wear. pic.twitter.com/JUHV5Glku9
— Aaron Flener (@AaronFlener) November 3, 2019
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4ZpxmNhJEB/?igshid=52dozd8914zt
How about the elevator in Ted Scott’s (Bubba Watson) Shanghai hotel? Umm… no thank you.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4LrnVvFr1W/
Ted and friends, Anthony Naylor and caddie Kessler Karain, also had some fun testing out a… STUN GUN!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4OIKsOlu0Y/
The coolest part of the week for Scott had to be this… a dinner with movie star Jackie Chan:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4U6mhLFQ67/
Over in Bermuda, count caddie Brent Henley as a big fan of the tiny island…
From all PGA caddies at the @Bermuda_Champ, what a incredible job y’all have done preparing for this tourney. Caddie hospitality is over top impressive along with your beautiful island!! The people of Bermuda are the friendliest, happy people I have ever met. THANK YOU!! pic.twitter.com/WAC656w9on
— Brent Henley (@BRENTHENLEY) November 1, 2019
And caddie Steve Catlin showed us that caddie parking is, well, a little different when you can’t rent a car…
Caddy Parking … @Bermuda_Champ pic.twitter.com/IzPcC58prN
— Catman (@OzCatman) October 30, 2019
Switching gears, this is a pretty great story (not sure how great for the caddie!) out of the LPGA’s Taiwan Swinging Skirts… American Nelly Korda successfully defended her title and credited her caddie for a pep talk at the perfect time.
But there was a twist to the win. You see, Korda won in a three-way playoff that included Caroline Masson. Korda’s caddie, Jason McDede, is Masson’s fiancé.
Awkward (not really. Pretty spectacular, actually).
Golf Digest has the full story in the tweet below, but here are a couple of highlights from the piece:
“Yeah, Jason is engaged to Caroline, but at the end of the day, he is on my team and I am the one signing his paycheck,” Korda said, laughing. “Caroline is a great person, and she played amazing golf today. You know, it was kind of difficult for him. … But I wouldn’t be where I am without Jason, and he made sure that he kept me in the game.”
“It was a little funny,” Masson said of the way things played out. “I was happy—the shot into 18 [by Korda in the playoff], you can’t do anything but just applaud, and you know, I’m quite happy to see them win. I’m proud of them and proud of the two of them, the way they work together, and hopefully I get another chance to beat them down the stretch the next few years.”
Nelly Korda successfully defended her title in a playoff at the Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA, thanks in part to a pep talk she got from her caddie (and playoff competitor's fiancé).https://t.co/ZKHIx0OrDi
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) November 3, 2019
Last, but not least, we’d like to send a great, big congratulations to caddie Ben Hulka and Heidi Thaemert, who were married over the weekend in Scottsdale, Ariz. Ben and Heidi are fixtures in the caddie area throughout the PGA Tour season helping fellow caddies with all the tools they’ll need for the week.
Here’s the happily married couple:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4aXvwuByFM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
