How an LPGA Tour pro is contending AND caddying at the Women’s Open

Lindsey Weaver looked up from the left side of the steep, greenside, pot bunker, bent back over her ball and lofted it out, the ball rolling to within about 5 feet of the hole. Next, she raked the trap, dropped the rake, jogged over to her bag, put the club in her bag, picked up her putter and went to read her putt. Finally, she then made the putt on Saturday on the par-3 8th hole at Royal Troon Golf Club, the challenging “Postage Stamp” hole.

“Of course she’s got to rake her own bunkers. Oh my goodness,” an announcer said. 

“Rake your own bunker, then you got to sanitize your hands before you go back. It’s awful,” a second announcer said.

“And you’re trying to win a major championship,” a third announcer said. 

Weaver is playing this week’s Women’s Open. She is also caddying. Pushing, not carrying. Caddies became optional when the LPGA Tour returned from its hiatus due to the coronavirus, and Weaver opted for a push cart. 

She is contending, too. Weaver has shot rounds of 71, 72, 71 for a 1-over par total. She is tied for fourth with three players, and she is five shots behind leader Sophia Popov after three rounds at a windy and winding Troon. 

“Yeah, so people have asked whether it’s a lot of work to just kind of like do all my own numbers and rake all my bunkers and push and everything,” Weaver said. “But it’s fine for me. It’s kind of just like playing junior golf, college golf again. It’s just kind of like back to the basics, so it’s kind of very different to be by myself, but normally, I usually take local caddies, so it’s usually I kind of have almost a stranger there with me normally, so it’s just me by myself. 

“It’s fine. I kind of like it. It’s definitely different, and I know a lot of people have different opinions about it, but it’s working for me right now.”

The cart has also been working for a while. 

Weaver has used the gray three-wheeler in all three of the LPGA’s events after its restart. She has cashed in all three events. The cart was also part of the 26-year-old’s junior golf days. According to Golfweek, before the LPGA returned, Weaver wheeled out the cart from her parents’ garage in Columbus, Ohio. 

“It really dates back quite a while,” she told Golfweek. 

The cart has not been care-free. 

During Thursday’s first round, Weaver was in one of the bunkers on the par-3 14th. Her cart was in another. It has a break. But it was on a break. 

“Well, I was in the bunker, unfortunately, and so I had to chip out sideways,” she said. “My push cart was – my push cart is back here and all of a sudden it’s in a different bunker. Yeah, that’s like my worst nightmare come true. She’s OK. Just had to dust off a lot of sand. It’s all right.”