Working as a caddie on the PGA Tour is one of the more underappreciated jobs on the circuit. More often than not, the only time a caddie may find himself in the news is when something goes wrong.
Unfortunately for Paul Casey’s looper, Johnny “Long Socks” McLaren, that’s exactly what happened on Saturday at the WGC-Mexico Championship.
The duo’s third round got off to a sizzling start with Casey eagling the par-5 11th hole and birdieing the par-4 12th to get to 3-under par through three holes. However, when they reached the par-3 13th hole, Casey and McLaren realized something was wrong.
McLaren, in his prep for the round, accidentally printed off the pin sheet that features the day’s hole locations on the green for the opposite field PGA Tour event taking place in Puerto Rico.
Casey’s fellow Englishman and playing partner on Saturday, Lee Westwood, let the world know after the round.
Small shout out today to @Paul_Casey caddie #johnnylongsocks . -3 after 3 holes and then realised he was giving Paul the pin positions for the @PGATOUR event that’s happening in Puerto Rico! Nice one Johnny!??? @Fooch1993 @gareth_lord
— Lee Westwood (@WestwoodLee) February 23, 2019
Casey confirmed Westwood’s claim on Instagram writing, “Yes it’s true. We played the first 3 holes to positions (yardages) on the green so the flag position didn’t matter per se. The first time I asked for a total distance to the flag was the 4th hole of the day and it didn’t match with my calculations. So we didn’t technically make a mistake but it’s still bloody funny!!”
Casey told GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard on Sunday that it wasn’t really a big deal over those first three holes, but as any good friend would, Casey took the opportunity Sunday night to needle his caddie once again.
“I texted him the pin sheets from Puerto Rico last night. I was like, ‘Here ya go,’” Casey said. “He didn’t respond.”
