ATLANTA, Ga. -- Honesty. That's all we ever ask for as fans of any game. This week's caddie is walking East Lake Golf Club for the first time. His insights and feelings about being here for the Tour Championship are everything you could ask for from someone experiencing this ... raw, honest, tired, yet excited.
With this guy trusting me to keep his name confidential, this week I'm revealing a little more than usual about who he is because of the response I've gotten from both caddies and fans of this column. I feel like we can take this baby step. (Remember, just because it's a caddie's first time doesn't mean his player hasn't teed it up here before.)
Please enjoy this week's Caddie Confidential responsibly.
Collins: What was it like playing a practice round [on Tuesday] with no crowd or marshals on the golf course?
Caddie: Um, a bit weird really. We spent [much of the day] looking for [golf] balls. [There was] no heckling. I didn't tell anyone off. Yeah it was odd.
Collins: Some guys love that, some guys hate it. Where do you fall?
Caddie: I don't like it. I like looking at the girls. With nothing to look at, no talent, it's not worth being out there in my mind.
Collins: How many golf balls did you lose?
Caddie: Three.
Collins: Seriously?
Caddie: Yeah. [The] rough's deep out there ... well we lost two in the lake. I don't even think the crowd will find those.
Collins: We hear all the time what it means to the players when they get here. What does it mean to the caddie when your player makes it to the Tour Championship?
Caddie: I think it's good you can set the schedule for next year. It's great. It's an exclamation point on your year. You know, even if you haven't played that well coming into the FedEx Cup playoffs or if you haven't done much in the last few weeks, if you're here it kind of reminds you, you've played well at one point during the year. So yeah ... The amount of people that said this week, "Good job getting here." It sort of sinks in [that] it's the last event of the year and every other player wants to be here. And caddies.
Collins: What's the hardest part of this golf course this week?
Caddie: I think it's playing very long and the rough doesn't look too bad, but there's gonna be fliers. ... It's gonna be a hard week for the caddies to get those boys on the greens I think.
Collins: What's that like on the course when both caddie and player think it's a flier lie?
Caddie: I'd say, "This could go anywhere from 150 [yards] to 250 [yards.] Let's try and make it 150."
Collins: Anything about this course surprise you?
Caddie: I think the size of it. The length of it. The greens look really flat on TV. But actually, more than any other course we've been on this year, you can screw yourself by a leave around the green. Simply because of the grass, plus [the greens speeds are] absolutely flying from back to front. So that's why I don't like the flier lies. Cause if you go long, you're hanging yourself off of one of those trees!
Collins: Coolest aspect of this golf course that you weren't expecting?
Caddie: Uh, gee, I don't find many golf courses very "cool," but I think the fact that all the holes are so close together. Even when you're standing on the range, you can see four or five other holes. Actually, you can nearly see what's going on all over the place. Plus you can forecaddie a helluva lot! That's how I rate courses. By how many times you can forecaddie.
Collins: Which hole will be the toughest to caddie this week?
Caddie: The 15th. ... That's the hardest hole I've ever been on, I think. I don't know how you keep it off the road if you hit it in the rough there. It's so uphill [with the] second shot, you can't see any of the green. It looks like the road is right through the middle of the green, plus if you go long, you're dead again.
I think that's gonna cause problems this week for everyone. [Pauses for a moment] You know what? The sixth probably will [cause problems] from that back tee. I mean that wind whipping across that lake. ... It's alright from that top tee, but when they get it on that back tee, as I say I haven't ever been here before and I haven't been back on that tee, but it looks like it's gonna be trouble. Scares me.
Collins: Well the good news is after this week you get some time off.
Caddie: He's playing [somewhere] next week.
He was serious, but we both laughed about it.