Caddie Network

Going head-to-head in Austin

Adam Fonseca
Victor Garcia, Sergio Garcia
Caddie Victor Garcia speaks with Sergio Garcia on the seventh green during the quarterfinal round of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Credit: Stephen Spillman-USA TODAY Sports

Any World Golf Championships (WGC) event is an exciting time on the PGA Tour, and last week 64 of the world’s best players competed in the 2019 WGC-Dell Match Play in Austin, Texas.

Following a different format where it seemed like every player walked 80 holes a day, a caddie’s role extended beyond the usual tournament requirements. Keeping your player calm and focused during a normal 18-hole round is one thing; doing it for multiple matches in a day is something else entirely.

Jim Furyk’s legendary caddie, Mike ‘Fluff’ Cowan, showed us all that there is no such thing as taking a break during a match, especially when your player needs assistance on the greens.

It’s nice to see veterans like Fluff maintain that spring in their step, even on some of the longest days of a caddie’s year. Of course, he may have operated at a different, um, speed at one point in his career, as this throwback picture suggests when Fluff carried for Big Cat.

The player/caddie relationship is one that strives on trust, loyalty and a closeness that most of us will never understand. This is even more true when a family member is your caddie, as is the case with Sergio Garcia and his brother, Victor.

Fellow looper Kip Henley spotted an exchange between the brothers that is truly unique to their partnership.

Finally this week, much was made out of the competitive nature of the WGC matches, and several examples of how tough the format can be was seen throughout the week. Matt Kuchar’s caddie, John Wood, summed things up best at the start of the week with this quote on the mental side of match play.

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