Bubba Watson caught some heat for berating his caddy during last weekend’s Travelers Championship, but that poor bag man was at least allowed to keep his job.
LGPA golfer Jessica Korda‘s caddy wasn’t so lucky.
Midway through the third round of the U.S. Women’s Open on Saturday, Korda fired caddy Jason Gilroyed and turned bag duties over to her boyfriend, Johnny DelPrete, who carried the rest of the way.
High winds tormented golfers throughout the day — only one finished under par — and a shouting match over club selection culminated in Gilroyed’s dismissal.
“We had a couple of disagreements here and there, and I wasn’t in the right state of mind. I knew I needed to switch and just have a little bit more fun out there,” Korda told USA Today. “It’s a U.S. Open. It’s tough out there. It just wasn’t working out.
” … It was tough for me, because I care about Jason a lot. He is a great guy. That’s just how it happens sometimes in life. That was one of those things today that it just unfolded. It was very hard for me to do. I’m not that type of person to take these things really easily. For me it was very hard to tell him that and it took a lot for me.”
However unusual the mid-round switch was, it turned out well for Korda. After shooting 40 over the first nine holes with Gilroyed on her bag, she finished with a 36 on the back nine while DelPrete — himself a professional golfer on the Web.com Tour — was handling caddying duties.
Korda enters Sunday’s final round tied for sixth place, 11 strokes back of the leader. She will draft DelPrete into service again to close out the tournament before finding a new full-time caddy.
Photo via Facebook/Jessica Korda
