Collin Morikawa recently parted ways with long-time caddie JJ Jakovac to team up with Joe Greiner, and the PGA Tour pro has noted how it didn’t take long for his new right-hand man to share a stark opinion
Collin Morikawa has been called crazy by his new caddie(Image: Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
The US Open is almost among us, with a 156-player field set to battle it out for the third major of the year. Rory McIlroy completed his long-awaited career Grand Slam at the Masters in April, before world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler turned heads at Quail Hollow by securing his first-ever PGA Championship.
With just two PGA Tour events left to play before the major championship lands, including this week’s Memorial Tournament at Muirfield and next week’s Canadian Open at TPC Toronto, some of the world’s biggest stars are making the final tweaks to their game with hopes of topping the leaderboards at Oakmont Country Club between June 12 and 15. But that hasn’t prevented some stars from making headlines for completely different reasons.
Here, Mirror Sport looks at some of the main talking points from the world of golf, including Collin Morikawa being labelled “crazy” by his new caddie, Jordan Spieth bluntly ignoring his own caddie’s advice, Max Homa’s surprising view on the US Open, and Tiger Woods’ recent comments on his relationship with Vanessa Trump…
Morikawa called ‘crazy’ by his caddie
Morikawa stunned golf fans worldwide in April when it was announced that he had parted ways with caddie of six years, JJ Jakovac, instead moving forward with Homa’s former looper, Joe Greiner. And speaking at the Memorial Tournament earlier this week, the 28-year-old admitted that it didn’t take his new right-hand man long to realise that he is a little unorthadox.
Speaking to the media, he said: “He’s already called me crazy a lot. And that’s fine. Like, I think golfers are generally crazy. I know I am. I mean, you give me eight weeks off this off-season, you should hear about the amount of things I tried.
“Just, I mean, I had seven different grips, different wraps on my grips, like I was going through it all. You just give me a little too much time, and I just go down rabbit holes.”
Currently second at Muirfield behind pace-setter Ben Griffin, Morikawa will hope to see his first win on the PGA Tour since the 2023 Zozo Championship when play comes to a close on Sunday.
Jordan Spieth ignores his own caddie’s guidance
Jordan Spieth was right to ignore Michael Greller’s guidance(Image: Getty Images)
While it is a caddie’s job to give their golfer guidance on lies, distances, and recommendations on clubs, it turns out that the loopers don’t always know best. This was evident at Muirfield on Thursday, when Spieth’s caddie, Michael Greller, suggested that the 31-year-old sacrifice a shot to chip back onto the fairway after landing in the rough of the par-five fifth.
A wayward tee shot collided with a tree and left Spieth with an awkward lie in long grass, with Greller suggesting that the lesser of two evils was to chip out to the left. However, the three-time major winner saw things differently, considering the quality of his play.
He explained: “It’s really hard to get me to chip out. I chip out maybe less than anyone else that’s ever played the game of golf. It’s demoralising enough that I’ll make a terrible decision not to.” He added that he told Greller: “If it gets to the fairway, I can make four. Versus, do I still make five if I can’t get it to the fairway?”
Spieth instead hammered the ball with venom, with the ball catching the first cut and leaving him with 128 yards to the hole. His third shot landed 25 feet below the hole, but in remarkable fashion, he managed to sink his fourth shot to register a birdie. Speaking about his incredible play, Spieth added: “It actually got to the fairway and I made birdie, which doesn’t help the whole cause.”
Max Homa makes surprising US Open comment
Max Homa has explained he’s not fussed if he doesn’t make the US Open(Image: Getty Images)
Elsewhere, Homa has made a stark admission that it’s “all good” if he doesn’t qualify for this year’s US Open. The 34-year-old, who has played in the last five instalments of the major tournament, will be forced to go through qualifying in 2025, given that poor form has seen him slip to 87th in the Official World Golf Rankings and 53rd on the FedEx Cup leaderboard.
Only the top 60 in the OWGR qualify for the third major of the year, so Homa will play the qualifiers instead of receiving automatic inclusion. But the PGA Tour pro doesn’t seem to be phased if he fails to make the tournament.
Speaking about the major, Homa said: “I never play well in the US Open anyway, so at that point I probably would have missed the cut. If I don’t get in, it’s all good. just wanted to play because now that I’m a dad I would like to win or something on a Father’s Day. But if not I’ll just hang out with my son and it will be a great day.”
Tiger Woods and Vanessa Trump ready to take next step
While Woods will miss the US Open this year as a result of an Achilles injury, the three-time tournament champion has been making waves in terms of personal relationships away from the greens and fairways. The 49-year-old announced back in March that he was seeing Vanessa Trump, the former daughter-in-law of US President Donald Trump.
And now, a close friend of the golfing legend has told the Daily Mail that the couple are ready to take ‘the next step’ in living together. The reported insider claimed that Vanessa feels “very comfortable” in Woods’ home, adding: “She has all the security codes and can come and go as she pleases.
“She has total access to his life. She’s really good for him to have around. And they’re always together now. If things keep going the way they’re going, they’ll be living together by the end of the year. Tiger moves fast in that department.”
