Deal With People Pros Don’t Want…: PGA Tour Caddie Answers the Question Every Golf Fan Thinks About
Omega European Masters 2025 Alexander Knappe GER caddy stops for a photo on the 7th during Round 1 of the Omega European Masters 2025, Crans-sur-Sierre GC, Crans Montana, Switzerland. 29/08/2025 Picture: Golffile Thos Caffrey All photo usage must carry mandatory copyright credit Golffile Thos Caffrey Copyright: xThosxCaffreyx *EDI*, *Imago*
Omega European Masters 2025 Alexander Knappe GER caddy stops for a photo on the 7th during Round 1 of the Omega European Masters 2025, Crans-sur-Sierre GC, Crans Montana, Switzerland. 29/08/2025 Picture: Golffile Thos Caffrey All photo usage must carry mandatory copyright credit Golffile Thos Caffrey Copyright: xThosxCaffreyx *EDI*, *Imago*
Behind every successful golfer, there’s a trustworthy caddie.
Tiger Woods relied on Steve Williams, and Rory McIlroy leans on Harry Diamond. But there’s much more to the role of a caddie than just handing out clubs.
So, what exactly does a caddie do? This was exactly the question that the hosts of Ireland AM asked the Irish professional caddie for Tim O’Neal, Lurcan Morris.
The caddie explained, “Well, they do everything. You’re a psychologist, you’re a coach, you’re a cheerleader, you’re a counselor.”
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Aaron Rai ENG and caddy Iain Finnis on the 18th fairway during the third round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Yas Links Golf Club, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. 08/11/2025 Picture: Fran Caffrey Golffile All photo usage must carry mandatory copyright credit Golffile Fran Caffrey Copyright: xFranxCaffreyx *EDI*
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Aaron Rai ENG and caddy Iain Finnis on the 18th fairway during the third round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Yas Links Golf Club, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. 08/11/2025 Picture: Fran Caffrey Golffile All photo usage must carry mandatory copyright credit Golffile Fran Caffrey Copyright: xFranxCaffreyx *EDI*
“You can be booking hotels, you can be booking flights, you can be taking phone calls that they don’t want to take. Dealing with people that they don’t want to… It differs from player to player, but that’s essentially my role with Tim O’Neal.”
Apart from that, a caddie also focuses on building tactics and studying the golf course ahead of time. Morris revealed that he personally visits the course a few days before the schedule and notes the slopes, bunkers, greens, and fairways. He also notes the optimum pin and hole locations.
Morris told Inside AM, “I think a caddy job is not telling the player so much where to hit it as opposed to where do you want to leave it if you don’t hit a good shot.”
So, how important is a caddie to a golfer?
Importance of Caddies for Professional Golfers
Jack Nicklaus’ long-time caddie, Angelo Argea, once revealed that his role as a caddie included two basic things. He had to remind the former world #1 that “he is the best player out there” and that “there are plenty of holes left.”
Elite golfers process yardages, wind, and shot data by themselves. But it’s the caddies who filter the information and support the players’ decisions. The strongest caddie-player relationships function as aligned professionals with defined limits, not shared control.
Through the International Journal of Golf Science, researchers stated that the caddies have to be skilled in order to provide good advice and potentially influence the outcome of the game.
A caddie’s influence rarely shows on the scorecard, but it shapes every decision that leads there. At the highest level, trust, clarity, and restraint define the partnership.
Written by
Krushna Pattnaik
Edited by
Oajaswini Prabhu