Mics on caddies: Good idea or personal invasion?
By Craig Dolch, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
The caddie-player relationship on the PGA TOUR has to be one of the strangest in sports. Most of them spend more waking hours together than with their spouses; they get to see incredible sights in faraway places with both having a chance to walk away from the week's event with a six-figure payoff.
But only if they play well together.
Most, however, abide by the adult-child dynamic that a caddie should speak only when spoken to. If the player likes a 5-iron for a certain par 3, most caddies will simply hand the player the club with a smile and say "I absolutely agree," even while fingering a sand wedge because he knows that 5-iron isn't going to clear that greenside bunker.
But there are times when things don't go smoothly, and we're not talking about the in-the-face approach that the late caddie Steve DuPlantis so effectively used when Rich Beem won the 1999 Kemper Open.
There are times when the player and the caddie agree to disagree. Most of the times, it happens on a far end of the course, with a player not near the leaderboard or a group of fans, so we never hear about it.
But that's not usually the case when Phil Mickelson and his bagman, Jim (Bones) Mackay, don't see eye-to-eye on a shot. That happens probably once a tournament where they will hash out what they think is the best way to play a dicey shot.
It happened when Mickelson won the 2007 PLAYERS Championship. Having hooked his tee shot on the 10th hole, Mickelson was facing tree trouble if he tried to go directly at the green. After much debate, he seemed to indicate he would try and slice his shot around the branches and hope he could catch a corner of the green. After he hit his shot -- that somehow missed the branches and hit the center of the green -- Mickelson came clean to Bones.
"I didn't want to tell you about that opening I saw there," Mickelson said.
The two were at it again at the World Golf Champonships-CA Championship at Doral last month. Mickelson's tee shot on the par-5 12th went to the right in some bushes, leaving Lefty with only a right-handed shot. After another long debate, Mickelson ignored Bones' advice to take a drop and instead played the shot with his off hand, eventually making a bogey en route to his one-shot victory over Nick Watney.
This week, the PGA TOUR will be working with NBC Sports at the Shell Houston Open to determine whether it is worth putting a microphone on some of the caddies (instead of just relying on the parabolic mics on the course). TOUR officials say none of the comments will appear on television, but just give them a test run for future events.
"The dialogue between Phil and Bones on the second shot Sunday at Doral is the type of stuff our fans tell us they want to hear more often," Andy Pazder, the senior vice president for tournament administration for the TOUR, recently told the Associated Press. "We're always striving to improve the quality of the telecast."
Tommy Roy, NBC's executive producer of golf telecasts since 1993, stresses this week's test is being done at the TOUR's request, with his network willing to help out. He said the plan calls for two caddies to wear microphones during Saturday's second round.
"I think the audio we get on golf is better than the audio on other sports, because they all have to be delayed," Roy said. "I can't put a boom mike on a green, so this is the way to hear a player and a caddie talking about reading a putt. Anytime you can take a viewer inside the ropes, it enhances the telecast."
It's easy to see why golf fans want a door opened on a conversation they've never been entitled to before. Other sports have done the same, with great success.
Who doesn't enjoy those old NFL Films that showed a strutting Hank Stram on the sideline after a Super Bowl touchdown or a beleaguered John McKay after another Tampa Bay Buccaneers' loss? Funny, compelling stuff.
The NBA and Major League Baseball have been successful in using microphones on players during games, usually during timeouts on the bench or pitcher-coach conferences on the mound. But they usually are shown a few seconds later, to make sure the audio is OK.
Why not try that in golf, where there's little need for tape delay? Of course, some of the caddies aren't thrilled with the idea of having a microphone follow them around during their five-hour rounds, lest they say something they shouldn't.
"I'm going to recommend we not do it," Eric Larson, Anthony Kim's caddie, said Monday. "I think they get enough from the boom mic. A lot of stuff we talk about (during a round) is personal stuff that has nothing to do with golf. They say that won't get out on TV, but somebody is always listening, so you always have to be careful with what you say."
Larson isn't the only caddie who sounds concerned. Reached Monday on his way to Houston, though, Bones said he would follow the lead of his player.
"If Phil is for it, then I'm for it," he said. "We know the TV contract comes up next year. Anything to help the TOUR and the ratings, we're all for it."
But in the next breath Mackay points out the PGA TOUR has to do its best to treat any conversation as sensitive. All is takes is one wisecrack from a player about another player or a spectator to get out in the public before huge endorsement contracts could be threatened.
Roy has an easy answer to their concerns. "If they want to say something they don't want anyone to hear, just put their hand over the microphone," Roy said. "It's what our guys do all the time. When Roger (Maltbie) wants to say something he doesn't want to go on the air, he just puts the microphone behind his back."
Plus, Roy said that when a player walks more than three steps away from his caddie, his voice won't be heard on the transmitter. So that could decrease the possibility of a problem.
Still, there are clearly two sides here. Should we call this debate, "A Good Talk Spoiled?"
Caddies have been trained to say as little as possible. One of the three credos of being a caddie is "Show up, Shut up and Stay up." It was the loose lips of Michael "Fluff" Cowan -- off the course -- that reportedly cost him the best job in golf, carrying Tiger Woods' bag. Woods, of course, is more than willing to listen to Steve Williams' advice inside the ropes.
Caddies know that anything they say can, and will be, used against them, even by the rulebook. Remember the 2007 Honda Classic? Mark Wilson might have won the tournament in regulation had his caddie, Chris Jones, not inadvertently blurted out the degrees of a rescue club his man hit in the second round. Uh-oh. That was the same thing as a player giving advice, which cost Wilson a two-shot penalty and forced him into a Monday morning playoff.
When Wilson won with a birdie on the third playoff hole, it was one of those rare times when the caddie was more pumped about the victory than the player.
So, by nature, caddies are taught to say as little as possible. With that in mind, why not ask some of the top caddies to wear a microphone during a round? It's not like you're asking them to drag around two dozen more balls.
As long as the sounds don't affect the integrity of the competition -- letting other players know what club you're hitting, for example -- anything that helps the telecast is going to help the sport.
As it's been pointed out a few times lately, it's time for change. A sport such as professional golf has to keep finding ways to make their telecasts more compelling, especially at a time when the economy is making every aspect of selling sports a difficult proposition.
What's wrong with a few words between friends?
Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.
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