My life as a tour caddie…

An exclusive interview with Craig Connelly, Paul Casey’s Scottish looper

Caddie master: Craig Connelly has made a fine career for himself as one of the tour’s top caddies

Tucking into a healthy lunch of steamed sea bass, Craig Connelly reveals that he has put on a stone of weight in the last month. “I’ve been sitting around at home doing nothing, really. Just watching TV,” he says.

Such is the life of one of the top caddies in golf. Connelly, now in his third spell toting the bag of English Ryder Cup star Paul Casey, has found himself at a bit of a loose end of late, with his boss sidelined by injury.

In a few days, though, his ‘stay-cation’ will come to an end when he jets off to Korea with Casey and it seems like it can’t come a moment too soon. Connelly clearly loves his job.

As he says himself: “What’s not to love? I get to travel the world, I’m involved in a fantastic sport, it’s financially rewarding, and I only work 25 to 30 weeks of the year. People look at us caddies lugging a bag around but they shouldn’t feel sorry for us. We’ve got it easy. I’ve been sitting about doing nothing for the last few weeks, whilst Paul has been practising, getting his game together, getting fit, and all that. He’s the one that’s got it tough.”

Make no mistake, Connelly is a real straight-talker. He’s as open and honest as the day is long, gives thoughtful and considered answers, and has a razor-sharp sense of humour. All the ingredients, then, to be a top caddie, right?

And that’s what he is. A top caddie. One of the best, in fact. In 15 years – first on the Ladies’ European Tour, then the LPGA and, finally, from 2004 onwards, on the European Tour – he has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with some of golf’s top names, dishing out clubs and advice in equal measure to great effect. To date, he has caddied five different players to a total of 19 tour wins, including two World Cups and one major, and, earlier this year, he helped Martin Kaymer reach world No.1.

Some, perhaps even Connelly himself, might say that he has been a little bit lucky. But, as anyone who follows golf knows, there is a lot more to it than that.

Craig Francis Connelly grew up in Clydebank and, like most people who go on to make a living from the game, got hooked on golf at an early age.

“I started playing at Clydebank Municipal as a kid and just fell in love with it,” he says. “I got down as low as four and played in some boys’ amateur events but I quickly realised I wasn’t any good, or certainly not enough to make a living from playing the game.

“Still, I knew I wanted some kind of career in golf. At first, I thought about maybe going down the club pro route but that never really got going because I was caddying at Loch Lomond, making up to £100 a round. And when you’re 16, as I was then, that’s a lot of money.”

So began a journey that eventually took him onto the LET on the bag of Myra McKinlay in 1996. In total, he spent eight years, carrying eight different bags, in the ladies’ game – both in Europe and America – before a stag do, of all things, shifted the direction of his career dramatically.

“A friend of mine was getting married and we were on his stag weekend in Islay in the summer of 2004,” explains Connelly. “At the time, he worked at the Wisley Golf Club, in London, and knew Paul pretty well. We were all there having a great time but Paul had just missed the cut at the Scottish Open, so a few of the guys told him to come and join us over there rather than feel sorry for himself.

“We had a great weekend, playing golf and getting drunk and, then, a few weeks later, I got the chance to caddie for Paul at the BMW International Open in Germany. We did well there, finishing third, and I thought that was it, so I went back to the LPGA. Two weeks later, I got a call to say, ‘You better get your arse to Detroit; Paul needs you for the Ryder Cup.'”

Over the next three years, the duo racked up a whole host of successes before taking a break, during which time Connelly picked up fellow Scot Colin Montgomerie’s bag.

“Monty was fantastic,” enthuses Connelly. “Obviously, you hear the stories of him being explosive and all that but he was great. I loved every minute working with him and the only reason I left was because Paul asked me back and I felt I had a bit of unfinished business there.”

At first glance, 2009 looks like it was one of Casey and Connelly’s best-ever years, both collectively and individually. They amassed three wins in four months and Casey got to third in the world.

However, a torn rib muscle for the Englishman, sustained during the Open at Turnberry, stopped them in their tracks.

“It was a real shame because Paul was playing phenomenally at that time,” explains Connelly. “He was world No.3 and, the way Phil was playing and with all the stuff that happened to Tiger at the end of 2009, he could have got to No.1.”

Still, it wasn’t to be and, after a few aborted attempts to return to the game, Casey eventually wrote off his season when he wasn’t able to play in the inaugural Dubai World Championship. But what happened next stunned Connelly.

“I was at home some time after Dubai and Paul called me up and told me he wanted to try something different,” he explains. “I was sick as a dog. Gutted. At the end of the day, it was his prerogative to do what he did but I couldn’t believe it. I was totally disillusioned.”

Going into 2010, Connelly suddenly found himself out a job. He says: “I was phoning round, looking for someone to work for, and I managed to get a couple of weeks with Kenny Ferrie and four weeks with Graeme Storm.” Then Martin Kaymer rang him up.

“When I got the call from Martin, I didn’t have to think twice,” explains Connelly. “We didn’t get off to the best of starts, though, missing the cut at Wentworth.”

Even so, results quickly improved, and, but for four successive bogeys to finish, they would have finished second at the Open. “Then we went to the US PGA and, well, the rest is history,” smiles Connelly.

Kaymer’s dramatic play-off win at Whistling Straits was not only his first major but Connelly’s, too. “Martin was so calm throughout the tournament, even in the play-off,” reveals Connelly. “He was just awesome.”

That win set the tone for a great finish to the year for Kaymer and Connelly, which yielded two more wins and first place on the Race To Dubai standings.

It was a lucrative year for Kaymer and, of course, Connelly, too. In fact, the money he earned made him one of the top-earning Scots on tour in 2010. The 2011 season got off to a good start, too, with a win in Abu Dhabi and, by the end of February, Kaymer was world No.1. Shortly after that, though, he made the surprise decision to let Connelly go.

“Martin just felt we were making too many silly mistakes, so there you go,” says Connelly. “No hard feelings.”

Now, he is back on Casey’s bag for a third spell – their acrimonious split at the end of 2009 water under the bridge – and Connelly is clear about what he wants from their partnership this time around.

“To be on Paul’s bag when he wins not just one major but multiple majors – that would be fantastic.”

Connelly has been engaged to his fiancée Catriona for eight years – “We just haven’t got round to setting a date yet” – and says he is lucky she is able to accompany him to various events throughout the year. So, he doesn’t see himself leaving the tour at any point in the immediate future.

“I’m only 34 and, touch wood, I’ll still be healthy enough to do it for years to come until, say, we hear the patter of tiny feet,” he says with a smile.

Connelly also insists he wasn’t approached to carry Tiger Woods’ bag before Joe LaCava got the gig. “No, he didn’t come calling,” he says. “I guess, before the past couple of years happened, if Tiger came calling it’d be a no-brainer. But, now, I’m back with a guy I love to work with. I’m very happy where I am.”

As to the golden rules of being a caddie? “That’s easy,” says Connelly with a laugh. “Put up, shut up, turn up on time, count the clubs, and speak when spoken to!”

Bryce Ritchie is the Editor of bunkered and, in addition to leading on content and strategy, oversees all aspects of the brand. The first full-time journalist employed by bunkered, he joined the company in 2001 and has been editor since 2009. A member of Balfron Golfing Society, he currently plays off nine and once got a lesson from Justin Thomas’ dad.

Editor of bunkered