Caddie Cam Making the drive from L.A. to Miami was the Tour's version of Le Mans

Most caddies fly cross-country these days, but the end of the
West Coast swing in Los Angeles used to be the start of the
Tour's Great Race. The minute your player finished the final
round at Riviera, you got in a car and drove to Doral, in Miami,
fast enough to get there in time for a Tuesday afternoon practice
round. That's 2,800 miles in less than 48 hours, which took
tag-team driving with stops only for gas and gas-inducing
rations. I recall going with Jimmy Sullivan, a European tour
caddie who mistook U.S. highways for the autobahn. I would drive
the easy first leg to Phoenix, then say a prayer and lie down
while Jimmy did his impression of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. If I
wasn't rousted by a state trooper who had pulled us over, I'd
wake up on Monday afternoon somewhere in Louisiana with Jimmy
still bearing down like Stirling Moss. Another caddie, Greg (the
Piddler) Martin, tried to pull a Sullivan-like shift and ended up
hitting a horse in New Mexico. Believe me, he's had no better
luck with horses at the track.

Linn Strickler has caddied on the PGA Tour since 1973.

COLOR PHOTO: DAVID WALBERG