In an era where splitting up seems more popular than sticking together, it's ironic that the golf tour is rediscovering old relationships. The PGA at Wentworth has witnessed the rejoining of Ernie Els with his long standing caddie Rickie Roberts, while Nick Faldo and Fanny Sunnesson, who had one of the most talked about player-caddie partnerships of the 1990s, have reunited with immediate results. Even Dave Musgrove, who officially retired at the end of last year, has got out of his easy chair and linked up with Sandy Lyle for a few weeks' porter service.
We all enjoy being around people we like and many would consider themselves fortunate if they find a genuine lasting friendship through work. The common complaint from both European players and caddies about life on the US Tour is that there is no camaraderie, no socialising after work - it's strictly business. Europe tends to be more sociable after hours. Which makes it even more important for a European player in the States to have somebody they can relate to on the other side of the bag. When asked what makes a good caddie, many caddies will erroneously cite technical advice, green reading, club selection or strategic advice. The reality for many professional golfers is that they employ long-standing caddies because they enjoy having them around.
This is not to take away from the quality of the job the caddie does. But it is difficult to sustain a relationship six days a week and up to 10 hours a day that doesn't involve a reasonable amount of compatibility.
A caddie sees the player in the heat of battle, under pressure, in moments of weakness. The caddie sees the very core of the person they are assisting. They are in a position of proximity that transcends even marital relationships. So as reluctant as many players may be to put any importance on the value of their relationship with their load lugger, consciously or not, there is something more to the long-standing partnerships than simple bag carrying.
Roberts assisted Els to victory in two US Opens. He carried out all the basic duties and said all the right things to help Els perform at the highest level. After a two-and-a-half-year recess the pair are back together and competed in Wentworth last week. Els is struggling for form. Although he shot 68 around the Burma Road on Sunday morning, he spent that afternoon on the range trying to find his game; he was not satisfied with his performance. His concern was borne out by yesterday's final round of 76, which left him on 286, 16 shots behind eventual winner Andrew Oldcorn.
Els is obviously trying to recapture the form of the good old days by re-employing his old bag-man (coincidentally, the US Open is coming up again in a couple of weeks time). When I asked Els why he wanted Roberts to leave Nick Price and team up with him again, it seemed difficult for him to give any tangible reason. "It's hard to put my finger on it," he replied. "We have had a lot of success together, we worked well together for five years. I feel good with him on the bag." If Els had won a major with any of the caddies he has had since he first split with Roberts the decision might not have been so simple.
Lyle, although he may not be considered a major contender these days by most critics, still feels he is competing. When he found out that Musgrove - who was originally supposed to be working for Christy O'Connor Jnr until Christy's mishap - was available, he asked Musgrove to rejoin him for some events until the Open. "Dave is a very good caddie," Lyle explained. "You tend to forget how good a caddie he is until you get some average ones along the way." Lyle won both his majors with Musgrove and their partnership lasted over a decade. His temporary reinstatement is, in the Scot's own words, hopefully going to "bring back some old memories".
Sunnesson, the most famous and successful female caddie and porter to Nick Faldo during his golden decade of the 1990s, resumed duty with the six-time major winner last week. After some cameo roles with him in the States earlier this year she decided to resume full-time service after a break of a year and a half. In between Faldo duty the Swede caddied for Sergio Garcia, Fred Funk and Notah Begay.
Although the Englishman has had a somewhat wilted presence in recent years in comparison to his formidable reign in the 1990s, Sunnesson reckons he still works as hard as ever and believes he can compete at the highest level. Given Faldo's third-place finish at Wentworth yesterday, she has a point.
Faldo has been rejuvenated by the return of his old porter. When I suggested that it must be great to have her back on the bag, he replied: "It's better than great to have her back working for me. She is enthusiastic, she's keen, she's passionate." I approached Faldo as I always had - tentatively. But he was ebullient in his response and needed no encouragement to explain why it was so good to have Sunnesson back in the camp.
Faldo left me with an anecdote about walking down the 14th hole with a four-shot lead in the last round of the Open at St Andrews in 1990. "Fanny asked me if I was going to get a dog," he said, going on to explain that he understood why she asked such a seemingly inopportune question at the time and respected the efforts she was making to take his mind off the situation he was in.
If any of these rekindled relationships produce more good results over the next few weeks, we may well be witnessing the start of a new trend of digging up old caddies for reinstatement. Watch out Dave McNeilly, Johnny Reilly is waiting for the Harrington recall.
