CADDIE'S ROLE:Golfing gods work in strange ways as caddies and their former employers are drawn in the same match

PLAYER/CADDIE relationships will ultimately end, that is a given. When they do there is a good chance of the player very quickly going on to win a tournament, this is sod’s law. There also seems to be an increased likelihood of the ex-player and caddie getting drawn to play together with their new “partners” within a very short time of their split, this is the golfing gods working in their unfathomable way.

As many of you will know I parted company with Retief Goosen late last year after almost five successful years together. A couple of weeks after our separation my ex-boss went on to win a tournament in Malaysia, with a local caddie on the bag.

Of course this does not do the “invaluable” reputation of us tour caddies any favours, his win was noted with humour in the European caddie-shack. You need a thick skin in the world of professional golf, so the ridicule I received from my colleagues was no surprise.

By the time he won again in South Africa a couple of weeks ago the quips directed at me had lost the sting of the Far East win. I had enjoyed less success since our parting.

That was until my Middle-East swing employer Alexander Noren from Sweden shot a 66 last Saturday at the Doha Golf Club in Qatar. My ex-boss, Retief, shot a 67 a few groups behind us to end up on the same three-round total.

The golfing gods odds were pretty low of us being drawn together. Naturally we were.

The fact that we parted company on very good terms made the pairing something to look forward to rather than dread as many of those who parted on bad terms in the past have had to deal with.

The tour is a small little travelling circus in which each act has been well scrutinised by the next, there is very little that slips by the unofficial tour news.

So by Saturday night last I was getting the message from my colleagues that I would be able to catch up on the past months since our separation. Retief was surrounded by his ex-caddies. My predecessor was in the group behind us with Johan Edfors and Retief’s looper before him was a few matches later with Sergio Garcia.

There are no restraint of trade orders in caddying, we are all free agents who can offer our advice to any player who is willing to listen just days after the cessation of employment with another.

As I nibbled on my morning toast on Sunday last in the clubhouse library in Doha which had been turned into the caddie diningroom for the tournament, my colleagues reminded me of the long list of similar occurrences in previous player/caddie separations. “Oh yeah, no sooner had I finished with Hennie Otto last year and hooked up with Charl Swartzel did we get paired together,” Hennie’s previous caddie informed me just as Peter Hedblom’s man piped up about the time he got Niclas Fasth’s bag and ended up being paired with his disgruntled previous bagman the very next week.

Of course there is no way to rig the drawn but there has long been a conspiracy theorists belief that the Tour are on the look out for inconvenient pairings.

I ate breakfast with Retief’s current caddie and chatted as we all normally do over breakfast. Then we ended up on the practice chipping green together Alex, my current employer, and Retief, my past paymaster, chipping balls to the same hole with me now looking at Retief’s practice session in a whole new light.

There was not much said on the practice chipping green between any of the four parties involved. This is normal, it is a professional situation with the players preparing themselves both mentally and physically for the final round.

There is one sure thing with us humans, despite the fact that we are all very similar in most ways, but when it comes to the detail we all differ greatly. This is particularly so with top sports people, their individual idiosyncrasies are what we caddies are employed to recognise and feed or starve as we see fit.

I had a set routine with Retief which he was accustomed to and I believe enjoyed, whereas Alex could take or leave all of these little touches.

Of course, when you get on the course it is all about business and no one’s better at this than the two-time US Open Champion.

As anyone who has been around him will testify he uses his words sparingly and when he does converse it is quietly and tersely. That is his way. People who like to natter can be intimidated by such a tacit nature.

Retief has adopted the hands-on approach to his new working relationship and seems to be doing everything apart from carrying the bag for himself. In my new position I have figured out that my player likes a considerable amount more information than Retief required from me. I am still getting used to the more hands-on guidance that Alex enjoys.

It is, of course, the art of caddying and advising in most jobs; figuring out what your boss wants and needs and furnishing him with both in required helpings.

Neither my current or past employer played particularly well, both putted averagely. It was appropriate then that we both ended up on the modest total of eight under par.

Retief headed home promptly on his private plane and myself and Alex hung around for a beer and a bit of down-time before our commercial flight to Dubai.

The same result from two players of a different nature, similar talent but at very different stages of their career. It is interesting to observe a superstar touch the life of a budding star – one with the accolades that drive the other, divided by a golfing lifetime that is sometimes connected in the rare pairings that remind one of where they have come from and the other of where they would like to go.