\u201cThe temptation here might be to lump on the caddie. But for me, anybody who does that is just lazy, and pretty ignorant,\u201d he told me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere\u2019s the reality of the situation. The tactics on the final hole were absolutely fine. You\u2019ve got a player whose tendency is a draw pattern, and that hole sets up for a big fade. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf he hits 3-wood off the tee with the wind off the right, he would bring the fairway bunkers into play, so they go ahead with an iron.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe executed that perfectly. The wind is off the right too for the second shot, so going in there with a wood is not the play. Manuel\u2019s got a really good wedge game, so laying up to the middle of the fairway with the second shot is the right play.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd no matter how you try and lay up there, that bunker is always in play, as is the water. It\u2019s not an easy lay-up. With Manuel being a draw-biased player with the wind off the right, he probably just overcooked it. Indeed, in his interview, he admitted that.<\/p>\n
\u201cHad he finished in the middle of the fairway with a wedge in hand, he likely\/maybe gets it up and down to that flag.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when the player has the opportunity to throw the caddie under the bus, and he doesn\u2019t, then that\u2019s a sign that it was in fact the player making a bad swing, absolving the caddie of blame and any lazy pile-ons.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, another example of what the majority of people outside the ropes don\u2019t realise \u2013 these players have tendencies, and that not everyone can move the ball both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Manuel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2295740894-1-1024x682.jpg\")
Manuel Elvira on the 18th hole on day four of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club | David Cannon\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
ALSO: Secret Tour Caddy: How tour players cheat \u2013 and what the caddies see every week<\/a><\/p>\n ALSO: Q School cards are becoming more worthless by the season<\/a><\/p>\n What role do caddies play in a tournament?<\/p>\n What do I think, you ask? I have no idea what to think. Elvira had just made an eagle on 17 to tie Spaun with one hole left. I expected to see him ride this momentum and hit driver. The 30-year-old hit an iron instead. <\/p>\n I can just about meet him there, but the next shot calls his general approach to the 18th into question, and so too his caddie\u2019s role. Even from our living rooms, we can ask why Elvira and Gonzalez decided that hitting an iron that could remotely flirt with the fairway bunker was the correct option. That\u2019s fair, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n Another experienced caddie, who has just carried in the first stage of the gruelling DP World Tour Q-School, told me it is ultimately the player\u2019s decision on what club they hit. He relayed a story to me:<\/p>\n At the start of September, when Q-School was at Huddersfield Golf Club, one competitor had 100 yards left to the pin, from a good lie in the rough. Finding the green and two-putting would\u2019ve seen the player qualify for the next stage, but the player and caddie couldn\u2019t decide between hitting a pitching wedge or a 50-degree wedge.<\/p>\n The caddie was in on pitching wedge, as the player had been \u2018ballooning\u2019 his 50\u2032 all day. The pitching wedge it was, and the shot sailed through the back of the green. The player had short-sided themselves, failed to get up and down, and missed the cut by a solitary shot. <\/p>\n Who is to blame in that situation? If a player isn\u2019t happy about the club in their hands, surely they shouldn\u2019t begin their backswing? As it goes, the duo worked well together all week, and continue to do so on the Asian Development Tour.<\/p>\n The caddie blame game is definitely a thing, and has been for a while. Not that he might listen to it, but Harry Diamond<\/a> has had shots fired his way when Rory McIlroy came up short at major championships during his winless streak between 2015 and 2025.<\/p>\n After McIlroy lost to Bryson DeChambeau in a pulsating battle at the 2024 US Open, NBC golf analyst Smylie Kaufman said Diamond should\u2019ve \u2018stepped in\u2019 on the par-3 15th hole, when McIlroy missed the green and made a bogey.<\/p>\n Kaufman said McIlroy hit the wrong club when speaking on the Subpar podcast. Renowned coach Hank Haney also said if Steve Williams had been caddying for McIlroy, Tiger Woods\u2019 long-time looper, he wouldn\u2019t have made that mistake.<\/p>\n Unless we hear player-caddie conversations, or either speaks about it afterwards, it is almost impossible to know how much a player has been swayed by their caddie\u2019s opinion.<\/p>\n The caddie from Q-School enlightened me somewhat about a sequence that can typically play out: a caddie gives the player their data and notes of the golf course, the player will suggest the club and shot shape, the caddie will then agree or disagree, and a conversation begins. <\/p>\n But, the player makes the call. I think that is a sensible conclusion. <\/p>\n Now have your say<\/p>\n Who was to blame for the Manuel Elvira Wentworth nightmare? Tell us on Facebook<\/a>!<\/p>\n NOW READ: The top players whose bags no one wants to carry<\/a><\/p>\n