Brooks Koepka's partnership with caddie Ricky Elliott has lasted over a decade. The five-time major winner once revealed the key to their long-standing success. It comes down to one quality Elliott possesses that Koepka values above all else.

Talking to Claire Rogers about two years ago, Koepka said, “Probably the best quality Ricky has is he’s lovable. Everyone likes him out on tour, everyone loves him. But he’s really good at like reading the room and reading personalities. And I think that’s the quality of a great caddie.”

Well, Elliott's popularity comes largely from his skill, both as a caddie and a golfer. He won plenty of Northern Irish championships, even representing Ireland at the 1990 European Youths Championship. Eventually, he made the switch to caddying and found a lot of success.

He helped Ben Curtis win at the 2012 Texas Open and later worked on Matthew Fitzpatrick's 2014 Masters campaign. Eventually, when Claude Harmon, Koepka's coach, recommended Elliott, the two formed an unparalleled playing style.

“He can kind of tell by the way I’m walking, moving, stuff like that,” Koepka told GOLF.com. “And he can be like, ‘Hey, slow down a little bit,’ or ‘Hey, just chill for a minute,’ or just lets me keep going, doing my thing... He understands. He’s a good people person. And I think that’s like the biggest thing you can do for a caddie, be a good people reader.” 

Together, they have won five majors and continue to stay together. And that consistent performance has allowed them to keep working together to this day.

But as one incident proved, even the best caddies can lose their nerves at times. 

The Time When a Fight With Elliott Made Brooks Koepka Do Well

A year ago, during his appearance on Smash GC’s YouTube channel, Koepka recollected an incident from the 2018 St. Jude Classic at Memphis. It was an event when Koepka and Elliott got into an argument. They didn’t speak to each other after Brooks Koepka blamed his caddie for “hitting the wrong club,” even though he hit the ball well. 

Present right there, Elliott agreed with Koepka. The duo didn’t talk for the rest of the day after Elliott asked Koepka to shut up (a bit rudely).

The caddie continued, “But the next tee, he drove it down the middle, hit about a seven-iron, and I sort of shook the bag—like he had taken the seven out himself.”

“Whenever these guys are going well, you don’t change what’s happening. You don’t all of a sudden start telling jokes whenever the guy just birdied five in a row. You just keep miserable.”

Now, Koepka values Elliott’s emotional awareness and situational control above everything else. Their partnership thrives because mutual trust allows tension and success to coexist without disrupting performance.

Written by

Krushna Pattnaik

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar