“Just a soundboard” – Xander Schauffele details golden criteria that makes a good caddy
Xander Schauffele recently detailed a few things that are required to become a good caddie. He said that besides being a great advisor, a caddie must also be a distraction when required.
Xander Schauffele is in Royal Troon, Scotland, for the Open Championship, which will be played from Thursday, July 18 to Sunday, July 21. He is one of the few golfers on the PGA Tour who has a longstanding relationship with his caddie. He has his good friend Austin Kaiser carrying his bag.
On Tuesday, July 16, while speaking at the press conference ahead of the Open Championship, Schauffele shed light on the traits of being a great caddie.
"Just a good soundboard," he said. "I need someone to talk to every once in a while. All that stuff that he has to do on the golf course, I expect him to do those things, and he does them. Then besides that, be a distraction when I need it. Since he's my friend, he can provide that more than a stranger could."
Kaiser has been caddying Schauffle since the start of his professional career. Before that, they were teammates in the collegiate golf team of the San Diego State Aztecs.
Earlier in the press conference, Xander Schauffele spoke about the complexities of being both a friend and a boss, as sometimes one role takes over the other.
"It's got to be a working relationship as well," he stated. "I'm lucky to have Austin. He's done a great job. I believe he's one of the hardest working caddies out here. I love when we don't have much information in a book because I know he's going to go out there and walk 25,000 steps to get all that info for me."
He added that it could be tricky when it came to mistakes, but open communication was always the best thing to do in these situations.
When will Xander Schauffele tee off at the Open Championship?
Xander Schauffele is grouped with Tiger Woods and Patrick Cantlay for the first two rounds of the Open Championship. The trio will tee off on Thursday at 9:37 am ET for the first round and will begin their second round on Friday at 4:25 am ET. There are no divided tees, and all the players will start from the first hole.
According to Sportsline, Schauffele is one of the favorites to win the tournament. At +1100 odds, he is only behind Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy in the oddsmakers' picks. Schauffele has already won one major this year at the PGA Championship, where he beat Bryson DeChambeau to end his two-year-long winning drought.