Shouldering responsibility: A precarious life on Tour for game’s supporting cast

Most bagmen go unnoticed, quietly doing their jobs and supporting their employer to the best of their ability. That is what they have been hired to do.

Think about even some of the top players and you’ll be hard pressed to name their caddie? Rickie Fowler? Jason Day? Sergio Garcia?

And then there’s the opposite end of the spectrum where the caddie either plays a vital role or has a high profile himself (or herself, in the case of Nick Faldo’s Fanny Sunesson). Does anyone not know at this stage that Jordan Spieth’s bagman, Michael Greller, used to be a maths teacher, or that Phil Mickelson spent 25 years with Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay? Or that Rory McIlroy’s caddie, JP, got the sack over the weekend?