"Caddyshack" turned 40 years old this summer. It is an all-time great sports movie. It's abundantly quotable and features a cast of 1980s comedy titans including Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and Ted Knight.
But Academy Award nominee Michael O'Keefe played the main character, Danny Noonan, a caddy at the fictional Bushwood Country Club who sank a clutch, explosion-riddled putt to win at the end of the movie.
Beyond the character, O'Keefe really loves golf and grew up in Larchmont, New York, not far from Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, the site of this year's U.S. Open. O'Keefe caddied at Winged Foot as a teenager in 1971 and 1972. Last week, O'Keefe wrote an open letter on Golf.com asking to be allowed to return to his caddying craft and be on a bag at Winged Foot this week.
"While I wouldn't be hitting any shots at Winged Foot Open, I do pledge to give advice -- both solicited and unsolicited -- to the golfer who gives me the chance to loop for him," O'Keefe wrote.
O'Keefe got his wish Monday. He'll be caddying for Danny Balin during practice rounds. O'Keefe is even wearing a Bushwood CC hat.
NOONAN! Check it out - actor Michael O'Keefe (Danny Noonan from Caddyshack) is on the bag for Monday and Tuesday practice rounds at the U.S. Open for NY PGA Professional Danny Balin. Nice touch with the Bushwood CC hat, too. pic.twitter.com/0pVLPAfv13
— Caddie Network (@CaddieNetwork) September 14, 2020
Hopefully Balin gives him a little something, you know, for the effort.