Wives and girlfriends playing dual roles as caddies for their husbands and partners on the PGA Tour is nothing new — Mark Calvacecchia, Steve Stricker, John Daly and Patrick Reed are just a handful of examples of players who have employed their significant others as “bagwomen” while on Tour. Matt Kuchar’s wife, Sybi, even stepped in to assist Zach Johnson in Mexico last week.
But it’s a rare thing for players to forgo the expertise of a professional caddie and rely on the full-time help of a partner or family member instead.
Such is the case for Lee Westwood, however, who made headlines on Sunday when he chased down Sergio Garcia to claim his first title in nearly four years.
Westwood won the event with girlfriend Helen Storey, a personal trainer, on the bag. According to The Telegraph, Westwood decided to part ways with his caddie of 10-plus years, Billy Foster, after last week’s Turkish Airlines Open.
“Lee wanted to work differently to everything we had ever done, which basically meant me just carrying the bag,” Foster said. “I struggled to adapt to that situation as a caddie, and it created a bit of an uncomfortable atmosphere on the course.
“Ultimately it was no good for Lee and not fair on me either. So, unfortunately, the partnership had run its course and we both knew that. Times change. It has been a great 10 years of my life with Lee and we had many special times and successes together. I can only wish him good luck moving forward. Although I do feel he could have waited more than a week before winning a million dollars!”
Together, Westwood and Foster’s achievements included 13 wins and Westwood’s ascendancy to World No. 1 in 2010.
According to the Telegraph, Storey will be back on the bag for this week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
