Revolving Door Among LPGA Loopers Marks More Of The Same
ORLANDO, FLORIDA | The Pittsburgh Steelers, a preseason Super Bowl contender, didn’t even make the NFL playoffs. But don’t expect their owners, the Rooney family, to fire coach Mike Tomlin. They are smart enough to know Tomlin didn’t all of a sudden get stupid. Yes, mistakes were made, but some things beyond the coach’s control also occurred.
There’s a lesson in this patience for pro golfers.
Over the past 50 years, the Steelers have had only three head coaches. All won at least 100 games and all won at least one Super Bowl. The genius of the Rooneys is that they put together a management team, trusted that team, and then got out of the way and let smart people do smart things.
Standing on the range this week at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, the kickoff to the LPGA season, I was struck by how many players had made caddie changes – by my count about one-quarter of the 26-player field, including Rolex Rankings No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn and the best American, Lexi Thompson.
In the caddie carousel, there are never enough chairs when the music stops – especially on the LPGA, where this musical chairs is an art form. Sometimes the player and caddie just get sick of each other’s voices.
Sometimes, if the player is underperforming, the easiest thing is to blame the caddie.
Sometimes, especially in women’s golf where players turn pro so young, the omnipresent parents pull the trigger.
Here’s the skinny on this year’s changes. Thompson and Kevin McAlpine, her caddie from March 2017 until right before CME Group Tour Championship in November, parted ways. Lexi’s brother Curtis is on the bag, but that’s a temporary fix because he has a pro career of his own.
Jutanugarn dismissed Les Luark, who caddied for eight of her 10 LPGA wins, and hired Daniel Taylor, the one-time caddie and present-time fiancè of Pernilla Lindberg, winner of last year’s ANA Inspiration. Lindberg hired veteran looper Roy Clarke. Granted, that one makes sense. If you’re married to your caddie, as Lindberg will be to Taylor next month, you are the sole income producer for the household. At least now, they are a two-income family.
But Jutanugarn and Luark split once before, so keep that in mind. I’m sure Clarke does. She also fired caddie Pete Godfrey, who is married to Jane Park. Godfrey was on Jutanugarn’s bag for her other three wins and was awarded the Caddie of the Year trophy before being sacked.
That’s a lot of changes but, really, no more than usual. And a large percentage of caddies will not have the same bag at the end of the season as they do now.
McAlpine, Thompson’s former caddie, is now with Amy Yang, a 29-year-old Korean who, amazingly, has 17 top-10 finishes in the majors without winning one. Maybe McAlpine can get her over the finish line.
Nasa Hataoka, 20, a meteoric talent from Japan with two LPGA wins, split with Dana Derouaux and hired Greg Johnston, who won four majors with Juli Inkster and was on Michelle Wie’s bag her first season as a pro.
Katherine Kirk landed Vern Tess, a wry Irishman who said of the difficulty of Oakmont after a practice round for the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open: “Now I know why they cut down 8,000 trees here. It’s so you don’t hang yourself.”
That’s a lot of changes but, really, no more than usual. And a large percentage of caddies will not have the same bag at the end of the season as they do now.
Which all raises this question: Isn’t golf difficult enough without adding another variable to the complex equation that leads to success by switching caddies? Ben Hogan wore only gray, white and black clothing so he’d have one fewer decision to deal with.
Golf is flush with examples of the success of sameness. Annika Sörenstam had only two caddies, one the last 10 years, one agent, one trainer, one swing coach, one mental coach and one equipment company. She won 72 times with 10 majors. Inkster had Johnston for 12 years, winning four majors. Meg Mallon had a long run with John Killeen and Beth Daniel went years with Ralph Scarinzi. Both Mallon and Daniel are in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Tiger Woods won 13 of his 14 majors with Steve Williams while Phil Mickelson and Jim Mackay had a more than two-decade run, which included all five of Lefty’s majors. Brad Beecher has been on Inbee Park’s bag since 2009, caddying for six of her seven major victories.
I’ve always thought that if I wrote a book about Tiger’s father the title would be: “Earl Was Right.” And one of the many things Earl did right was, once he got Tiger to a venue he wouldn’t be within 1,000 yards of his son.
Earl made sure Tiger had the best coach, caddie, trainer, psychologist and any other support he needed and then got out of the way. While Tiger played, Earl would walk in the woods, puffing a cigarette and listening to jazz on headphones. How’d that work out?
Call it the Steelers model or the Woods model or the Sörenstam model, but there is something to be said for sameness. As the new season begins it might be wise for players to remember that quick fixes usually aren’t fixes – merely changes.
Real change happens over time and involves trust. That’s not a bad mindset with which to start a new foundation for success.