CT Golf News

Life on the bag on the PGA Tour

With his employer tied with Jack Nicklaus with two holes to go in the 1982 U.S. Open, Bruce Edwards had a bagful of anxiety. "The degree of difficulty made it a worry, not the length (of the shot)," Edwards recalled.

Being an astute caddie and wanting to lessen the pangs of his friend, Edwards whispered some passing advice. "Get it close," Edwards said. "I'm going to hole it," Watson replied.

With a flop of his sand wedge, Watson lofted the ball out of the spinach. It tracked smoothly toward the cup and did exactly what Watson said it would do.

As the ball disappeared, Watson began circling the green, then pointed at Edwards as if to say, "I told you so." Minutes later, Watson made a 20-foot putt for a closing birdie, then bear-hugged Edwards. "It was the ultimate moment," Edwards said.

It's just such a moment that caddies dream about sharing with their player, that make toting around a 50-pound bag worth all the sweat and leg cramps.

A foursome of the best on the PGA Tour -- Edwards, Joe LaCava, Greg Rita and Joe "Gypsy" Grillo -- have roots in Connecticut and earn more than the going rate of $600-700 a week, plus 5 percent of any winnings, or 10 percent on victories. Making six figures a year is a plus when you don't have pension or medical benefits.

Edwards and Rita began their careers at Wethersfield Country Club, former home of the Insurance City Open/Greater Hartford Open and once known as "The Caddie Capital of the PGA Tour" after several area youth worked the tournament and then got permanent employment. "Caddies used to be considered almost like scum, second-rate citizens, but no more," Edwards said.

Edwards, Rita, LaCava and Grillo have turned a passing fancy into a lucrative living, usually carrying for some of the marquee names in the game. "Most players who have been around have very good caddies," said Fred Couples, who nearly won his second Masters in April with LaCava at his side. "And good caddies are hard to find. There are always a lot of caddies who want to work for you, but you have to find one you want working for you."

Ah, yes, camaraderie, the keyword in the player-caddie parlance. There's nothing more important than punctuality, dependability and an innate ability to say the right thing at the right time. "We try to add some consistency to their life"' Grillo said.

Bruce Edwards

Edwards first worked a tour event at 13 for Dick Lotz in the 1967 ICO at Wethersfield CC, where he caddied in the summer. Edwards, now 43, remembers getting paid $60 after Lotz shot 71-70-69-73.

"I photo-stated the check, and I think it's still at my parents' home in Wethersfield," Edwards said.

A day after graduating from Marianapolis Prep in 1973, Edwards used a graduation present from his parents -- a one-way ticket to Charlotte, N.C. He went to Quail Hollow Country Club for the Kemper Open and worked for David Graham.

"I was the only person in my senior class who didn't go on to higher education," said Edwards, who lives in Ponte Vedra, Fla., with his wife, Suzie. "Everyone thought they were smart and I was stupid, but I'm the one who's laughing now."

Edwards worked one week for Bob Shaw, took two weeks off, worked one week for Ron Cerrudo and then went to Missouri for the St. Louis Golf Classic on Fourth of July weekend. Edwards introduced himself to an upstart named Tom Watson, said he planned to work on tour for a year and asked if he could carry his bag that week. Watson finished sixth. Edwards made $300 and a friend for life.

"I thought I was loaded and liked Tom because he was great to work for," Edwards said. "And the rest, as they say, is history."

Edwards worked and traveled the world with Watson for 16 years, even receiving a $25,000 van for Christmas as a "bonus." When Watson's game began to wane, he told Edwards to look for another bag if he wanted, and Edwards hooked on with Greg Norman.

Though Edwards' bankroll became bloated in four years with Norman, it wasn't easy working for the sometimes temperamental Australian. Edwards left Norman after the 1992 Greater Milwaukee Open and returned to Watson.

"Peace of mind is a wonderful thing," said Edwards, the best-known caddie on tour this side of Fluff Cowan, who totes for Tiger Woods. "I missed Tom's class. Let's leave it at that."

It's part of what Edwards considers the most important part of being a good caddie, whether it's carrying for Watson or players such as Lee Janzen, as he did in the GHO and Ryder Cup last year.

"You have to have a player you can work with where you're part of a team, where anything you say is for the good of the cause," Edwards said. "At times, you have to kick them in the tail and at other times you have to stroke them.

"There's so much psychology involved out here now because, from a caddie's standpoint, everybody has the same yardage. That used to be a tremendous intangible because we had to walk the courses, but now we have yardage books, pin sheets and range balls. In the old days, we had to walk the course to check the pins and still be back in time to shag [balls]."

Though the job is easier now, there are the intangibles such as the psychological aspects. Can a caddie motivate? Can he challenge?

"When all hell is breaking loose, like a string of bogeys at the wrong time, can you keep him focused and save him a shot?" Edwards said. "In order for that to happen, you better get along with him because if he doesn't like me, it doesn't matter what I say in the heat of battle. He doesn't want to hear it and isn't going to pay attention."

Aside from the chip-in at Pebble Beach, Edwards' most special moment is something Watson said, not did. "His best compliment to me is when he said I was the voice in his ear," Edwards said. "I like being able to make a difference."

Greg Rita

Rita, 42, grew up a self-proclaimed golfaholic. He played at Glastonbury Hills Country Club, and his father, Richard, was chairman of the 1959 ICO. "Golf got into my blood, and it has never left," Rita said.

Rita grew up in Glastonbury but graduated from Westminster School in Simsbury. "I went there to prepare me for the tour," Rita said, smiling.

Getting serious, Rita started so he could travel and see the country. "I never envisioned it would turn into a business," Rita said. "I treated it more as a traveling vacation, and now it can be a lucrative business if you have the right bag.

"You have to make your own breaks, and I feel I've been very fortunate with my experiences and the success that I've had."

Rita first caddied at the 1975 GHO for Dwight Nevil, then became a tour regular in '77 for Gil Morgan. His other steady bags have included two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange, PGA and British Open winner John Daly, 1998 Masters champion Mark O'Meara, 1981 U.S. Open winner David Graham, John Cook, Chip Beck and Scott Hoch, his employer since October 1996.

"The most important things are being dependable, which means showing up on time and ready to work, providing accurate information and knowing your player's mood," Rita said. "You have to know what to say and when to say it."

Rita also has experienced a wide range of memorable moments, including three major championships -- the 1988 U.S. Open, when Strange won an 18-hole playoff with Nick Faldo; Strange's U.S. Open repeat in '89; and Daly winning the '95 British Open in a playoff with Costantino Rocca, who made a 70-foot putt from the "Valley of Sin" on the 18th at St. Andrews in Scotland to force extra holes.

The sometimes volatile Daly also provided Rita with some of his special off-course moments. In 1992, Daly took Rita and his fiancee, now wife Laurie, to Italy for the Italian Open. A year ago, Daly bought Rita a $28,000 Blazer.

"It came out of the blue," Rita said. "I had a car with about 60,000 miles on it, and John said, "I'm tired of you driving that thing around, so let's find you something." I ended up driving a Blazer out of the lot.

"I think that tells you what kind of a guy John can be, and, without bragging, I hope it says something about the kind of (good) job I've always tried to do."

Joe LaCava

LaCava, 34, grew up in Newtown, graduated from Western Connecticut State University in December 1986 and began caddying a month later for friend Ken Green, a native of Danbury.

"I planned to go out and mess around with Green for six weeks on the West Coast because I'd never been anywhere," said LaCava, who had thought about using a finance degree to become an investment banker like his father in Newtown. "But the second week out, Ken asked me to work full-time. I didn't have any money so I was willing to do anything. I haven't looked back since."

LaCava worked three years for Green, and the two were paired with Couples in the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan in 1989. Green asked Couples if he had a caddie because his brother was going to start working for him. LaCava wanted to continue caddying, and Couples called a few days before Christmas.

"I was painting the house and it was 30 degrees outside," LaCava recalled. LaCava became Couples' steady several weeks later. When Couples' back acts up, LaCava has worked for Cook, Pain Steward, Mike Hulbert, with whom he won the 1991 Anheuser-Busch Classic, and Justin Leonard at this year's GHO.

"Any caddie has to do his homework and be able to get along with the guy he's working for," said LaCava, who lives in Southbury. "You have to know the lay of the land -- what the yardage is, where to lay up, where to miss certain shots on the green -- so your player has confidence in what you and he and are doing.

"And you obviously have to get along because you're with a guy more than you're with your wife or girlfriend. You have to have fun while you're out there because there's a lot of idle time."

Between shots and during those down times, LaCava and Couples often talk sports, especially LaCava's beloved New York Rangers. "We're both sportsaholics, so sports are 99 percent of our conversations," LaCava said.

But LaCava had to be especially caddie-friendly in 1997, when Couples had to deal with his father and girlfriend having cancer. Couples withdrew from the Skins Game in November to be with his father, who died on Thanksgiving. Being a shoulder to lean on in trying times is part of the reason Couples gave LaCava $5,000 at Christmas for his daughter Lauren's college fund.

"Last year was really difficult because it's so hard to play golf when your mind isn't on top of it," LaCava said. "Everyone has problems out here, but it was especially hard when someone has cancer and you know death is inevitable."

Couples has a reputation of being one of the most low-key players on the tour, but LaCava says there's a qualifier. "He can kill a day better than anybody doing a whole lot of nothing," LaCava said. "But he's just as excited as Tiger Woods or Tom Kite to win any golf tournament. He gets mad and he gets excited, but he keeps a lot in while Tiger might pump his fist. So he's laid-back, but not as much as people think."

Such insight explains the relationship LaCava and Couples have formed. "Now we're more friends than boss and employer," LaCava said. "It's like a buddy deal, but I still respect the fact he's the boss and I'm out there to do a job."

Joe Grillo

Grillo, 47, was born in Hartford Hospital and grew up in the city and West Hartford, graduating from Conard High in 1969, which is when he got the nickname "Gypsy."

While a senior at Conard, Grillo rode with the Storrs branch of the Vigilantes motorcycle gang of Chicago. "There were about 60 guys, and I was an advance man," Grillo said.

After graduating from Conard, Grillo spent two years in the Navy, then rode with the Vigilantes again in 1972-73. It was during that time that Grillo went to UConn and got the first taste of his future profession by happenstance.

In 1972, Grillo and Paul Buzzuto, the UConn golf captain who lived in the same dorm, planned to play the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Club in San Diego while on a semester break. Torrential rain derailed that idea, but someone asked if they'd like to caddie for pros trying to qualify on the North Course for the Hawaiian Open. Grillo initially declined, then reconsidered and carried for Stan Lee, who qualified but left Grillo on the mainland.

Five years passed before Grillo worked his first tour event, the Pleasant Valley Classic in Sutton, Mass. He carried for Parker Moore, and all the rebel hadn't left Grillo, who had his long hair in a braid. Grillo and Moore didn't make the cut that first outing, but the next week they traveled to Pinehurst, N.C., finished 12th and won $3,200.

Grillo later also carried for Travis Hudson and Dan Pohl before joining Jim Simons full-time in 1979, losing in playoffs in the Milwaukee and Buick Opens in their first two tournaments together. They also lost a playoff to Howard Twitty in the 1980 GHO at Wethersfield.

Simons left the tour in 1988, and Grillo became the president and cook for the Professional Tour Caddies Association. But his bagtoting didn't end. He worked for Jay Haas, Steve Elkington and Curtis Strange, including at the 1985 Masters when Strange rallied from a first-round 80 to take the lead in the final round, then hit into the water at Nos. 13 and 15, finishing two behind winner Bernhard Langer. "Curtis just wasn't meant to win," Grillo said.

Through his many years carrying and cooking, Grillo has made special friends, especially Jeff "Squeeky" Medlen, a longtime caddie who died of leukemia last May. "Being with Squeeky and telling him how much he meant to me just before his death is a highlight of my life," Grillo said. "It was sad, but great, too, to be there by his side, holding his little head, about the side of a grapefruit, and telling him how much I loved him and that he was going to a better place than I was in."

For the past three years, Grillo has worked for Elkington, a former classmate at the University of Houston, who won the 1995 PGA Championship and The Players Championship in '91 and '97.

"The most important thing is to be on time. The rest of it is just enhancing their game," said Grillo, a divorced father of four who lives in San Antonio. "They're great players, and we just have to have the correct yardage, come up with the right club when asked, come up with the right feelings when a player is down and out and be a calming influence when he's really excited.

"The players are the body of the tour and we're the backbone, and people don't understand that. We've never made a player great, but we help them bring out their best. It's a different place, different hotels, different greens and different situations every week, but we're right there to try to make things feel as if it's the same."