Tommy Fleetwood has been caddying — and learned an interesting lesson

Craig wound up T60, though as an amateur and a stepson, we doubt there was much of an earnings/fee negotiation. But he must have learned a thing or two from his looper. But what did his looper learn from him? This week Fleetwood offered some insight after a first-round 5-under 65.

“Well, I definitely felt like, because I wasn’t hitting the shot, I had no feeling towards any golf shot,” he said. “So when you’re caddying, you see what’s the right golf shot, probably, or you give your opinion or you see things very clear for what they are. Because it’s not like I’m worried about hitting it left, right, long, short, whatever it is, so you say whatever it is. I did enjoy that part.”

Removed from the fog of war and the fear of failure, there’s some clarity to be found. Fleetwood added that there’s also something to be learned about the way golfers talk to themselves.

“I think the way I spoke to Oscar, I would love to speak to myself like that a lot more often,” Fleetwood said. Finally: it’s not an easy gig. “And yeah, I kind of realized sort of how hard caddying can be at times but I don’t really want to tell people that.”

Fleetwood’s own caddie situation has been in flux. He and longtime looper Ian Finnis are one of the most distinctive duos on Tour, visually striking because of their size difference (Finnis is 6-foot-7, Fleetwood 5-foot-8) and immensely popular with fans, players and caddies alike. But Finnis has been out for months after a health scare left him in the hospital — bacteria reached a hole in his heart and required open-heart surgery before he began an extensive recovery process.

Finnis offered some details to Telegraph Sport. “They are not exactly sure what happened but bacteria got into a hole in my heart that I’d lived with previously with no problems and then ate away both valves,” he said. “They opened me up and the amazing surgeon, Mr Generali, fitted a metal valve and by some miracle he fixed the other valve, saving me from getting a tissue one which would have had to be replaced every seven years or so.

“I have to express massive appreciation to Mr Generali and to all the staff at the hospital. You know, the NHS is really incredible. They had me attempting to walk the day after in intensive care. It’s a balance but you need to use your heart to get it better.”

Fleetwood was beaming after his first tournament round back with Finnis.

“It was great to have Fino back and lovely way to start a tournament,” Fleetwood said about his right-hand man’s return. “It feels nice to have had a really good round in his first week, for him more than anything. It’s been great. Felt so normal. We did a great job. Everything sort of flowed, really, today. He made a couple of great decisions, so it’s not like he’s been away.”

They’ll have plenty to talk about.

Dylan Dethier

Golf.com Editor

Dylan Dethier is a senior writer for GOLF Magazine/GOLF.com. The Williamstown, Mass. native joined GOLF in 2017 after two years scuffling on the mini-tours. Dethier is a graduate of Williams College, where he majored in English, and he’s the author of 18 in America, which details the year he spent as an 18-year-old living from his car and playing a round of golf in every state.