Aussie caddy rides a Tseng-sational wave

know that when the inevitable does occur, it shouldn’t be taken personally and you just move on. In 23 years of carrying bags, he’s worked for a who’s who of golf with players including Anthony Kim, Justin Rose, Paul Casey, Y.E. Yang, Tim Wilkinson and Scott Laycock on the men’s US, European and Japan Tours. Among the women he’s worked for on the LPGA and LET are Annika Sorenstam, Helen Alfredsson, Suzann Pettersen and Karen Lunn.

But it is his current player with whom he has had the most success – a partnership into its third season and proving lucrative for both parties.

Since Yani Tseng sacked her previous caddy, Dave Poitevent, after winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship in April 2010, she has won 17 titles with Hamilton on

“A friend of mine who used to caddy on the ladies tour got talking to Yani and threw my name in the hat. We all live in Orlando and so I knew her to say ‘Hi’. We went for a drink and agreed to start off on a trial, just to see if the chemistry was there.

“Tim (Wilkinson) completely understood. He gave me a push, actually, and said he didn’t know when he would be able to come back.”

Like many caddies, Hamilton turned to ‘looping’ because he loved the game but wasn’t good enough to make it as a player. After leaving school he devoted himself to golf, working at Drummond Golf in several stores and playing at Commonwealth in Melbourne’s sandbelt. “But I figured out pretty early that I wasn’t going to be good enough.

a top ten finish and an extra five per cent for a win.

Hamilton earned enough in his second year to almost cover his expenses and he made a slight profit the year after. Five years in and he was ready to go home and settle down … but then he figured he had picked up a bit of knowledge and it would be a shame to waste it by giving it all away.

“This is my 23rd year at it and I’m enjoying it more than ever,” he said. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with some really good players and that is the greatest opportunity to learn about the game. But sometimes it is not working anymore and instead of trying to fix something that is broke it is better to move on. It’s part of the job and you don’t hold grudges.”

ever seen is the same as everybody else’s – Mike Clayton and the day he threw his putter, it fell down and hit the ball and then the ball hit him. That will be the funniest thing for the next 100 years.”

His best moments on tour, not surprisingly, have come on his current “wave” but he’s also convinced even better days are ahead.

“Caddying is all about experience and having time in the game,” he said. “When I was younger I didn’t know very much and was just trying to stay out of the way. But it is a game you never stop learning about and if a caddy has been around for a while then he should know the ropes and be able to help his player out.”