Paul Emerson began the ultimate spherical of the RBC Canadian Open as a fan, however spent half of it as a caddy for a second he'll always remember.
The lawyer from Aurora, Ontario, Canada went from behind the rope as a fan to hold the bag of Taiwanese golfer CT Pan for 2 holes on June 2 after Pan's skilled caddy is was wounded in the midst of the spherical.
Veteran caddy Mike “Fluff” Cowan was unable to proceed the spherical after slipping and falling on the golf green of the third gap at Ontario's Hamilton Golf and Nation Membership.
The caddy for Pan's taking part in accomplice, Irish star Shane Lowry, initially took Pan's bag.
Whereas close by, Emerson supplied his companies to assist carry Pan's bag, and Pan took it. The following factor he knew, Emerson was slipping an official caddy bib over his crimson Masters T-shirt for a “Comfortable Gilmore” second of passing by means of the group to shoulder Pan's golf golf equipment.
Emerson recalled in a video on the official PGA Tour web site, “I simply stated to (Pan), 'Do you want a hand?' And he stated, “Sure, please.” So I helped Fluff off the bib and threw it on and he began strolling into the outlet.
The self-proclaimed “golf nut” acquired the fun of a lifetime as he slipped into the ropes and went from spectator to caddy, hitting the golf green on the third gap. He additionally appeared within the tv broadcast.
Emerson requested Pan what he ought to do as they approached the outlet, and Pan informed him to remain off the inexperienced.
“As we have been strolling down the golf green, he stated, 'I'm not very talkative,'” Emerson stated. “I used to be like, 'Hey, I'll discuss as a lot or as little as you need, we're good.' He's a extremely, very nice, actually pleasant man.”
With Emerson standing off the inexperienced holding his bag, Pan rolled in a 20-foot putt for birdie on their first gap collectively.
“One after the other, Paul,” Lowry joked to Emerson on the printed.
“Sure, nice caddy!” Pan stated.
Caddies typically assist their golfers learn the greens on putts, however Emerson left that to Pan.
“Hell of a studying, proper?” Emerson joked.
“It's all downhill from there,” Lowry cracked.
Lowry was sadly proper, as Pan cleared the following gap with Emerson on his bag.
On the fifth fairway, Emerson was changed by Michael Campbell, a member of the caddy companies workforce on the course. Campbell was changed on the tenth gap by Al Riddell, an expert caddy.
Riddell had caddyed within the match for French golfer Paul Barjon, however Barjon missed the lower and didn’t play within the last two rounds. Riddell lives simply quarter-hour from the course and stated he acquired the decision to assist Pan end the spherical.
Pan completed the match tied for thirty fifth at 3-under par. He ended up working with 4 completely different caddies within the last spherical, however there’s one he’ll clearly always remember.
“Then on the fifth fairway, somebody got here as much as us and stated he had been despatched by caddy companies to switch me,” Emerson stated. “He didn't actually need to cease, however he picked up the one that I assumed had some native information.”
Emerson stated her solely earlier caddy expertise got here when she regarded for a buddy in a pro-am on the CPKC Ladies's Open, an LPGA occasion.
Cowan, 76, who famously caddied for a younger Tiger Woods within the late Nineties, suffered “non-serious” accidents, a PGA Tour official informed ESPN.
Emerson's shining second wasn't even the one caddy-involved drama of the match.
Scottish golfer Robert MacIntyre, 27, gained his first PGA occasion by taking the Canadian Open title together with his father, Dougie MacIntyre, serving as his caddy. The elder MacIntyre is a greenkeeper at an area course in Oban, Scotland.
“I need to win this for my dad,” she tearfully informed CBS Sports activities on the printed. “That is the man who taught me the sport of golf, and I can't imagine I'm doing this with him on the bag.”
A homesick MacIntyre stated he enlisted his father's assist to caddy on the match. His father acquired the decision from his son per week earlier and flew to Canada to work with him.
“I'm a lawnmower, not a caddy,” Dougie MacIntyre stated on the printed whereas combating again tears. “It's unbelievable.”
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