Luke Clanton has made one of the toughest decisions of his young career. The rising golf star parted ways with his longtime caddie, Jason Wiertel. He called the move the 'hardest thing in the world' to do.

Talking to Smylie Kaufman on The Smylie Show, the young golfer praised Wiertel as an “incredible mentor” who was with him for four and a half years of his journey. But firing him was truly troublesome. 

"I released the caddy that was with me for four and a half years... It was just kind of a bit of a struggle because obviously he had his whole family with him. This life is hard enough. This is a 25-27 week in and out every single year. And you know, I think I kind of knew that it was going to come to an end, which obviously was the hardest thing in the world to do to call on that and take the courage. "

That's because at the 2022 North & South Amateur, Clanton met Wiertel just two days before the event. The next day, they teed off at 5.30 am, and the subsequent win was enough for Clanton to offer Wiertel a permanent job.

But now, as Clanton kicks off his PGA Tour career, the commitment is much different. That's why the golfer might be looking for a caddie who's better suited to the PGA Tour. Even then, it was a tough decision for the young golfer.

"I was walking around my room for six hours in the morning trying to figure out how am I even going to do this? And yeah, it was tough. But, you know, again, like you said, it's just at the end of the day, it is business. And it's just kind of one of those things where whatever is best for me and what I'm going to doing in my career, I have to make that decision."

Kaufman swooped in with a reality check for the 22-year-old. He pointed out that very few golfers get to stay with a single caddie for their entire career.

The One Thing That Kept Luke Clanton and Jason Wiertel Together for Over Four Years

“I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he’s done for me, the role model he’s [been for] me,” Clanton said ahead of the 2025 Valspar Championship. “He’s not just a great caddie, he’s a great person, a great dad, and he does things the right way. It’s pretty cool to have him by my side.”

But he realized Wiertel’s true intentions right after winning the 2022 Azalea Invitational, North and South Amateur. As he gave the speech, he failed to find the caddie at the ceremony. He later found out that he was caddying for his daughter, Lucy, at a U.S. Kids event. 

That incident revealed Wiertel's character to Clanton. He said, “I went over to give him thanks and I knew right there he’s not just there to be there for the awards, he’s there for me, which is pretty cool."

Read more at Daily Club Golf!

Written by

Krushna Pattnaik

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar