Masters 2024: 'A sporting role like no other' - the role of a golf caddie

[CharlieH]

 

The sun was low in the sky and the shadows lengthening from the towering Augusta pine trees as Canadian Mike Weir approached his ball on the 10th fairway.

Len Mattiace, his opponent in a sudden-death play-off, was in a spot of bother off the green.

To all but secure the coveted Masters green jacket, Weir just had to hit the green with his approach shot.

A life-changing victory rested on a couple of degrees of direction and a few pounds of pressure on the club face. The slightest waver in concentration, though, and it could be all over. The chance to land a first major may never come around again.

The tension was huge. But some of the talk that had got him there was decidedly small.

Caddie Brennan Little had lightened the mood around the Augusta National by chatting to Weir about the stars of WWE wrestling.

Being a caddie is a lot more than carrying clubs - you are a confidant, coach, walking database, psychiatrist, the furthest inside the ropes and in the midst of the action. It is a sporting role like no other.

Little grew up in southern Canada near Toronto with the dream of becoming a major champion himself.

As a young prospect, he played with and against Weir before realising that he may need to go down a different route to his best friend to taste success at the highest level.

"I played some professional golf, but my career ended in 1998. I just wasn't playing very well and I wasn't getting any better," Little tells BBC Sport.

"Mike had gotten his tour card and I started as his caddie in 1999 thinking I would do it for a little bit. I have been caddying ever since.

"It is just kind of one of them things that happened. I just fell into it."

Like with all best friends, shared laughter is the sound of memories being made.

For Little and Weir, it is no different.

Both shared a love for family and sport, with Little often poking fun at Weir for his lack of knowledge on WWE.

 

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