Maja Stark credits Scottish comedian caddie for US Women’s Open win

Before carrying the clubs for his hero Colin Montgomerie – and now a US Women’s Open champion – Jeff Brighton pursued a career as a stand-up comedian.

That side hustle, it turns out, proved rather important in a tense finish at Erin Hills on Sunday.

Sweden’s Maja Stark had a three-shot lead on the 18th hole in the Wisconsin countryside, but had to wait an age as her playing partner Julia Lopez Ramirez collapsed with a disastrous eight.

It meant there was time to kill. Time that could be filled by Brighton’s jokes.

“My caddie used to be a stand-up comedian,” Stark said, “so he had some good jokes. We just kind of tried to talk about some stuff and not be too into my own putt.”

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Stark does not remember what these jokes were – she had a few things on her mind to be fair – but Brighton’s intervention did provide sufficient distraction.

The European Solheim Cup star wound up with a bogey, claiming a steady two-shot win over world No.1 Nelly Korda and Japan’s Rio Takeda.

She never once looked flustered on a career-defining Sunday, thanks partly to her new caddie from Ayrshire.

“It was sh***, just waffle,” Brighton told Golf Digest afterwards. “You try and get her head away from it.

“I would say Maja is quite an intense player. She tries really hard and is really competitive. When you’re tense, between shots you try to get her head away from golf. It’s a long time out there. It went great.

“I’ve only been with her a few weeks, but we make a good team. We get on well. She was brilliant.”

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Brighton, who had stints with Bronte Law and Jin Young Ko before joining Montgomerie on the PGA Tour Champions a few years ago, only recently started looping for Stark.

Now the Swede has her first major title, and a record $2.4million prize to go with it.

“We had a good game plan and she played so smart, but aggressive at the same time,” Brighton added.

“That was a big thing. She said playing scared doesn’t really work for her. So she was really aggressive to those smart targets and then eventually realised that pars were good scores over the weekend.”

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.