THERE WERE STRANGE scenes at the RBC Canadian Open yesterday, as Robert Allenby’s caddie walked off midway through the first round following a disagreement over club selection.
The confrontation occurred on Allenby’s fourth hole when the 44-year-old Australian and caddie Mick Meddlemo disagreed over the choice of club for his approach shot to the par-five 13th. Allenby eventually hit an eight iron and found the creek in front of the green, which led to more heated exchanges and a triple-bogey.
“My nerves have been rattled. I’m in shock,” Allenby said afterwards. “This is the worst incident I’ve ever witnessed as a player.”
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“I said to him [Middlemo], ‘You know this happens every week. We keep making bad mistakes and you’re not helping me in these circumstances’.
“He just lost the plot at me. He got right in my face as if he wanted to just beat me up. I said, ‘Stop being a such-and-such and calm down and get back into the game. And he just got even closer and closer and I just said, ‘That’s it, you’re sacked. I will never have you caddie again.”
However, Middlemo offered a different version of events. He claims he chose to walk off because of a series of ‘personal insults’.
“Robert’s a pretty highly strung individual and he hasn’t been playing great of late,” he told Australian radio station SEN.
“We had a discussion about a club, then of course I copped the wrath of that. Then unfortunately the personal insults started. I’ve been called a bad caddie…but when the personal insults come in and you’re being called a fat so-and-so…I got a little bit peeved by it and then the third time he said it I walked up to him and basically said ‘I dare you to say that to me again’.
“He didn’t say it again. There was never going to be any violence. I was just going to put the bag down, get my gear and leave.”
This is the second time in eight years, and the third time in his career, that Allenby has lost a caddie in the middle of a round. He previously had caddies desert him mid-round during the 2007 BMW Open and 1995 Open at St Andrews.
After the latest incident of caddie trouble, Allenby was forced to carry his own bag to the first hole — his 10th of the day — before enlisting a 61-year-old spectator to carry his bag for the remaining holes.
Robert Allenby has a fan carry his bag after sacking his caddie mid-round
THERE WERE STRANGE scenes at the RBC Canadian Open yesterday, as Robert Allenby’s caddie walked off midway through the first round following a disagreement over club selection.
The confrontation occurred on Allenby’s fourth hole when the 44-year-old Australian and caddie Mick Meddlemo disagreed over the choice of club for his approach shot to the par-five 13th. Allenby eventually hit an eight iron and found the creek in front of the green, which led to more heated exchanges and a triple-bogey.
“My nerves have been rattled. I’m in shock,” Allenby said afterwards. “This is the worst incident I’ve ever witnessed as a player.”
“I said to him [Middlemo], ‘You know this happens every week. We keep making bad mistakes and you’re not helping me in these circumstances’.
However, Middlemo offered a different version of events. He claims he chose to walk off because of a series of ‘personal insults’.
“Robert’s a pretty highly strung individual and he hasn’t been playing great of late,” he told Australian radio station SEN.
“He didn’t say it again. There was never going to be any violence. I was just going to put the bag down, get my gear and leave.”
This is the second time in eight years, and the third time in his career, that Allenby has lost a caddie in the middle of a round. He previously had caddies desert him mid-round during the 2007 BMW Open and 1995 Open at St Andrews.
After the latest incident of caddie trouble, Allenby was forced to carry his own bag to the first hole — his 10th of the day — before enlisting a 61-year-old spectator to carry his bag for the remaining holes.
Allenby subsequently carded an 81 and withdrew from the tournament. It has been a frustrating 2015 so far for the golfer. Not only has he made just seven cuts so far this season but he made headlines in January after being beaten and robbed after missing the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
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Meltdown Mick Meddlemo RBC Canadian Open Robert Allenby