Ahead of this year’s U.S. Open, Tour caddies Austin Kaiser (Xander Schauffele) and John Ellis (Wyndham Clark) sat down with Subpar hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz to talk some shop.
On the docket: the history they have with their players, late-night shenanigans, Ellis’ status as a mini-tour legend, and an assessment of the playing ability of some of their peers.
But first, Ellis shared a few words about Clark that turned out to be pretty prophetic.
“He’s been knocking at the door,” Ellis said, in response to Knost’s question about whether or not Ellis was surprised by Clark’s first PGA Tour win at the Wells Fargo Championship. “I actually felt like he was ready this year. I know he’d been close the last few years, or had chances to win.
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“Talent-wise, ability-wise, who he is as a golfer, sure he shoulda won,” Ellis continued. “I thought his maturity level needed to be where it is now to win golf tournaments. And he’s there. And I expect him to win multiple golf tournaments. I truly believe he’s one of the best players in the world based on what he’s doing now. I don’t think he was ready to do that a few years ago, even with having the talent and skills that he had.”
Sure enough, Clark won his maiden major championship at Los Angeles Country Club last Sunday, just days after this interview took place.
Throughout the interview, Knost and Stoltz peppered Kaiser and Ellis with questions about Tour caddie life. And while both loopers demurred when Knost asked them to name the pro most likely to split a dinner bill with his caddie, Kaiser and Ellis were in agreement on an answer to the next topic: the caddie most likely to make the cut in a PGA Tour event.
“Depends on the course,” Kaiser said. “If you go to like a short-hitters course —”
“Puerto Rico, I think [Max Homa’s caddie Joe] Greiner could make the cut,” Ellis said.
“But you get him on like, Torrey South, he has zero chance,” Kaiser said.
“Most people don’t have a chance out there,” Stoltz quipped.
For more from Kaiser, Ellis, Stoltz and Knost, check out the full interview below.