Caddie Cam Sometimes a joke is just what the doctor ordered

I love working the Masters. My first was in 1983, in the days
when the caddies were such a big deal that we would walk across
Washington Road in our white jumpsuits and get a good table at
the Green Jacket restaurant. In 1990 I carried for Scott Hoch,
who the year before had missed a little putt that would've won
the playoff he was in with Nick Faldo. That putt was an elephant
in his living room, and I didn't want it sitting on him all
week, so after he described it at a pretournament press
conference as 14 inches long, I told him he must think he
catches some pretty big fish. He laughed, and we finished a
respectable 14th. I haven't been back to Augusta since then,
although I deserve a Purple Heart for my reaction to the
emotional victory in '95 of Ben Crenshaw, my current player. On
that Sunday I was at home watching on TV when Ben birdied the
17th hole. I jumped off my chair and left a chunk of my hand on
the blade of a ceiling fan.

Linn Strickler, 50, has been a Tour caddie since 1973.

COLOR PHOTO: DAVID WALBERG