The last time I met Graeme McDowell's caddie he was sat sweltering and defeated outside the Augusta clubhouse having just missed the cut in the Masters.
Five months later, life has changed somewhat. McDowell bounced back to clinch the Wales Open here at Celtic Manor in June, and two weeks later became the first European since Tony Jacklin to win the US Open when he triumphed at Pebble Beach. Now he's at the Ryder Cup as one of the lynchpins of the European team.
I caught up with bagman Ken Comboy to get a caddie's view of that major victory and the Ryder Cup.
"The US Open has changed Graeme's life. To be the first European winner for 40 years is a dream come true. All of a sudden his profile has gone sky-high," explained Comboy.
"It's great to be part of it, and as a caddie it's a feather in your cap to win a major. But we all realise we're very small cogs. Graeme won the major, I happened to be stood next to him and didn't get in his way.
"Most weeks I share a room with Lee Westwood's caddie Billy Foster and the only thing left for him to win is a major, so I realise how lucky I am."
Comboy is playing down his role on the final afternoon at Pebble Beach. But anyone watching TV coverage will have heard the pair chatting through their options on the 18th, with the trophy theirs for the taking.
"We were glued to Gregory Havret putting up on the green, trying to establish whether we needed a four or a five to win. We had about 235 yards left so we could have hit a hybrid into the greenside bunker or knock maybe a six iron down, 30 yards short.
"Then Graeme said quite clearly he wanted to lay up. I just questioned exactly where he wanted to leave himself. He wanted to hit an eight iron and leave himself 100 yards to go. I said it was too much so we went with nine. He left himself 97. A good pitch on and two putts and he'd done it.
"Was the heart pounding? There was definitely an element of fear. I didn't want to make a mistake from a caddying point of view.
"There was no fun involved, more relief once it was over. It's only afterwards you think, 'wow, that was great'.
"There are very few golf tournaments you enjoy, even when you're ahead because you're scared of letting it slip. It's an awful game for that.
"That night was a blur but it was fantastic. We went to a pub in Carmel and Paddy Harrington came along. All I know is we weren't in bed very long because we got up early to watch the World Cup.
"To be honest it was a five-day party. We met up again in Portrush after Graeme had been on the Jay Leno show. Everyone who knows us came up and Rory was there and we had a good old bash."
So how's the Ryder Cup been so far?
Comboy (far left) was the instigator of the McIlroy wigs incident. Photo: Getty Images
"Monty has been fabulous. He's included us in everything and asked us what we think about things like course set-up. It gives the impression we're a big part of this.
"We all went to the Millennium Stadium for the concert on Wednesday and we also had a dinner with the American caddies in Cardiff.
"We do a lot of stuff together - in the hotel we've got a caddie dining room, which is actually two separate rooms but we've been mixing freely. There's loads of banter but we're all friends so there's no animosity.
"Among our guys, Wobbly [Phil Morbey, Ross Fisher's caddie] can't keep his mouth shut and Billy's always chipping in. They're the veterans of the team - they've done loads of Ryder Cups with Woosie, Jose Maria, Darren Clarke and others - but there's plenty of crack in the team room and it's buzzing.
"The caddies see it as their job to keep it lively and break the ice. There's always some stunt or other going on. A popular one at the moment is stealing the keys out of buggies.
"It was me who came up with the idea for the Rory McIlroy wigs. Gmac and I have been talking about it for a while when the pairing with Rory was first on the cards. I bought them on Monday on the way down here, but we waited until the Wednesday when were starting off the first tee. Rors loved it. He's a fun-loving lad. The banter went down well.
"People always ask if caddies get paid for the Ryder Cup given the players don't - well, we get a contribution toward expenses so you make a few quid but not much.
"This is my third Ryder Cup - I worked with Thomas Bjorn at the Belfry in 2002 and with Graeme two years ago.
"Obviously we won in 2002 so afterwards it was straight into the caddie area for a few beers. Jesper Parnevik invited us into the team room and it spilled over into the hotel bar. It was quite a night.
"In Graeme's first Ryder Cup at Valhalla, he and Padraig lost their first match on the last, he halved his second playing with Miguel Angel Jimenez and the third was on a knife edge. The Americans got a hole back at one stage and I remember Graeme turning to his partner Ian Poulter and saying, 'Jeez, how hard is it to win a point in this competition?'
"Luckily, they went on to win and Graeme won his singles against Stewart Cink, but he was desperately disappointed not to win as a team.
"Funnily enough, Thomas and I had Cink in the singles in 2002, we met him again on the Sunday in Valhalla and we've had him again here in the first session.
"The festivities in Valhalla were unbelievable for a losing team. We had a party in the team room and then we went to the US team room to congratulate them.
"About 1am Graeme and I nipped out to downtown Louisville to meet up with his family and friends and got back to the hotel about 3am, to find the party still going on. We stayed up, checked in our bags at the hotel and had another drink in the airport bar."
Not that drinking is big or clever, you understand. So, is there any difference to the technique of caddying in the Ryder Cup compared to, say, a major?
"The big difference is that this is matchplay, so the worst that can happen is you lose a hole. You can get over a bad decision reasonably quickly.
"Golf is generally about not making mistakes, but fourballs is about making birdies so there's not as much chat about what's in front of the green or behind or whatever because you're just shooting at the pin.
"The players also glean a lot of information from each other. For instance, Graeme will ask Rory, 'did you hit that well?'
"In foursomes there are a few more tactics involved and the caddies are involved more in the decision-making, such as whether we should play the odd or even holes.
"You've always got your eye on the opposition and there are times we might step in and say, 'the middle of the green would be good here'. But I wouldn't say caddying on the first two days of the Ryder Cup, is as important as in the majors.
"But it's a funny feeling going into the singles. All week you've been in a team but suddenly it's a bit lonely. That's when the caddie has to get the players up, and maybe remind them you can only win your match.
"They've all played matchplay, but it's a heightened intensity because it's the Ryder Cup. Some thrive on it, some don't. Graeme loves matchplay and you only have to look at a guy like Poults. He loves all the crowd attention. Rory looks to be similar but we'll find out.
"It's just a wonderful sporting event, the interest levels are enormous. You don't see football stadium golf anywhere else in the world except in Ryder Cup.
"That first tee on Friday was incredible, astonishing. But unfortunately it was a pig of a day and I'm so disappointed for everyone.
"It was impossible to stay dry. I've only got two hands - I could have done with another six. At one point Graeme putted and left the ball on the green. I had the flag in one hand, the umbrella in the other, the bag on my shoulder and the ball to pick up.
"I'm looking at him thinking, 'what am I going to do here?' In the end I kicked it off the green and gave it away.
"But it's easier here than a normal tournament because there are team members flying around in buggies with fresh towels - in five holes I changed the towel four times.
"At least our waterproofs were better than theirs. They didn't like them and bought new gear from the merchandise tent. Those first ones were quite different, weren't they!
"Europe have always been much more classy. They're a bit more bling, with the trophies on the jumpers and the basketball suits with names on the back, but it's all good fun."
So any party plans in place for this week yet?
"At the minute we don't know which night we'll be celebrating, or not. Put it this way - it won't go unnoticed if we win back the Ryder Cup."
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/robhodgetts/2010/10/tales_of_a_celtic_caddie.html
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