Under the Strap

Before the start of the 2022 Players Championship, our John Rathouz sat down for a chat with caddie Mark Carens — a man who knows TPC Sawgrass better than most, having won the tournament while on the bag of Si Woo Kim in 2017.

In the pod, Carens tells a story about how the Sunday before the 2017 Players he and Kim were playing their own practice round on the back 9. Carens was recording Kim with his camera and before Kim hit on 18, Carens said, “one-shot lead on the last,” and then Kim barked back, “No, two-shot lead…” and that’s exactly what ended up happening the following Sunday.

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In this week's Under the Strap podcast, our John Rathouz sits down for a chat with Reynolds Robinson, caddie for PGA Tour player Joseph Bramlett. Robinson is a fascinating person. He grew up in New York City, excelled at basketball as a youth, became an accountant and didn't become interested in golf until age 28...

And now, since 2006, he's been a caddie at the highest levels of professional golf. He shared some great stories about his life, validating moments as a caddie thanks to Stewart Cink and Jim Furyk and what it was like to caddie for Cheyenne Woods (niece to Tiger) and the one thing he'd never chat with her about.

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In this week's Under the Strap podcast, our John Rathouz sits down for a chat with Justin York, who -- after a lengthy and successful run with Chez Reavie -- now caddies for South Korea's Seung-yul Noh.

York has plenty of great stories to share from memorable loops at Whisper Rock to meeting his hero, Troy Aikman, a look into his approach to caddying, his love of all things Larry David, what it was like to work for Colt Knost, a look at this week's Waste Management Phoenix Open and a whole lot more.

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In this week's Under the Strap podcast, our John Rathouz sits down for a chat with the one and only Geno Bonnalie, caddie for PGA Tour winner Joel Dahmen.

Geno and Joel make up one of the tightest player/caddie pairs in golf, as their friendship dates back to when Joel was just 12 years old and the two were raking in money on the course against adults -- a classic story Geno shares with us.

Among the other hilarious stories Geno shares? The time he bought a Saab that didn't start at the Quicken Loans event for $22 only to get it started and sell it to a state trooper the following week for $200 at the Greenbrier. One about a trip to Kansas and telling his young son Hudson -- who loved the Wizard of Oz -- that he might see the Tin Man... and then sending a photo home to Hudson of Joel, dressed as the Tin Man. All that and so much more -- like a foggy morning on the Korn Ferry Tour after a big night out.

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Chatting with Steve Hulka is always a treat.

Hulka, who first caddied on the PGA Tour back in 1972, sat down with our John Rathouz on the latest 'Under the Strap' podcast. As usual, Hulka shared some tremendous stories -- like how Angelo Argea, longtime caddie for Jack Nicklaus -- used to tip caddies who went out in the morning wave to share the hole locations with him before he went out in the afternoon with the Golden Bear.

Hulka also shares a hilarious story about Arnold Palmer from the old Bob Hope Classic -- now known as The American Express, which will be played this week -- where Arnie provided a wink that one woman will never forget.

All that and plenty, plenty more.

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Want to learn more about Brian Zeigler, caddie for Bryson DeChambeau?  

Zeigler joined our John Rathouz on the latest ‘Under the Strap’ podcast, where he told us about his background as a teaching pro – which is how he came to meet DeChambeau in 2018. Initially, Zeigler wasn’t sure he wanted to leave teaching behind, but couldn’t pass up the chance to caddie for a top-5 player in the world. He was surprised how quickly DeChambeau let him into the decision-making process… especially since their first event together was no less than the Open Championship.  

Zeigler talked about the things he does on the road, how DeChambeau’s work ethic is second to none, the work that goes into dialing in equipment being in unchartered waters with swing speed and a whole lot more… including the weight of DeChambeau’s bag, which will make your back hurt!

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In this 'Under the Strap' podcast episode, our John Rathouz sits down for a chat with the hilarious Sam Harrop, golf's premier parodist. Harrop has cleverly put together a number of parody songs about golf and several have gone viral... including a collaboration with caddie Aaron Flener. Enjoy!

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In this Under the Strap episode, John Rathouz catches up with Joe Skovron, longtime caddie of Rickie Fowler. In the pod, Skovron dives into special moments he's had on the road like hanging out with Michael Jordan, playing golf with Tom Brady and a whole lot more. They also dive into Albany, site of this week's Hero World Challenge -- an event Fowler won in 2017 -- as well as the things Fowler has been working on in his game to prepare for what they hope will be a successful 2022.

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In this ‘Under the Strap’ podcast, John Rathouz welcomes Henry Diana, caddie for Tom Hoge on the PGA Tour. Rathouz and Diana rap about the NFL, his own playing days and trips to Q-School, fun stories from Tour and Diana also gives a preview of this week's RSM Classic in Sea Island, Georgia -- a venue he knows well seeing as he resides there.

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In this ‘Under the Strap’ podcast, John Rathouz welcomes Mal Baker, caddie for Talor Gooch. Gooch has been one of the hottest players on Tour lately and is heading back to the Houston Open this week -- an event he finished fourth in each of the last two years (at two different venues). Baker has been on Gooch's bag for all of his PGA Tour career to this point and riffs on how “patience” is the most important key for Gooch to get his first W. Also, it’s more important in Baker's opinion to keep bogeys off the card than put birdies on it. Baker also gives some great insight into how he likes to walk a new course (like this week's Memorial Park, which was redone by Brooks Koepka before last year's tournament) back to front starting on 18 green.

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