Report: Legendary tour caddie gets surprise call-up to The Open
A familiar face will be carrying the sticks for England's Matthew Southgate at the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.
A familiar face will be carrying the sticks for England's Matthew Southgate at The Open.
The 37-year-old veteran has recruited Billy Foster for one-week only at Royal Birkdale.
Foster is best-known for his five-year stint on the bag for European legend Seve Ballesteros, as well as Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Thomas Bjorn, Sergio Garcia and even Tiger Woods during the 2005 Presidents Cup.
Since ending his partnership with Matthew Fitzpatrick in 2025, he has not taken on a full-time role, although he has continued to work selectively, including a return to caddying for Westwood in the LIV Golf League.
Today's Golfer are reporting that DP World Tour veteran Southgate picked up the phone to Foster after he survived a 36-hole qualifier last month to grab a spot in the 156-man field.
It means that Foster's steak of caddying at every Open since 1984 remains in tact.
Foster has a deep love affair with golf's oldest major and has come close to winning.
The most notable near miss came in 2003 when the aforementioned Bjorn surrendered a two-shot lead with three holes remaining to America's Ben Curtis at Royal St George's.
Westwood also spurned a golden opportunity at Turnberry in 2009, agonisingly missing out on a playoff by one shot.
Foster told the publication that his greatest Open memory, though, was walking up the final hole with Fitzpatrick, Max Homa and Woods at the landmark 150th Open at St Andrews.
Woods made a surprise appearance at the home of golf, some 17 months after sustaining serious leg injuries in a car crash.
He missed the cut and was reduced to tears as he crossed the Swilcan Bridge.
Foster said he believed it was Woods' farewell to The Open.
After the 154th Open, Foster will be back in action next week carrying the sticks for Westwood at LIV Golf's event in Staffordshire.
Take a look below at the players in the field at Birkdale and their caddies.
Scroll down...
Player | Caddie |
Aaron Rai | Jason Timmis |
Adrien Saddier | Charles George |
Akshay Bhatia | Joe Greiner |
Alistair Docherty | Marcus Mercado |
Alejandro de Castro Piera | Bruno Marti Jimenez |
Aldrich Potgieter | Luke Hopkins |
Alex Fitzpatrick | Peter Blyfield |
Alex Noren | Kyle Morrison |
Alex Smalley | Michael Burns |
Andy Sullivan | Guy Tilston |
Ángel Ayora | Juan Ochoa |
Antoine Rozner | James Nelson |
Andrew Novak | Jeff Hamley |
Austen Truslow | Julian Hood |
Baard Bjoernevik Skogen | Gavin Hinds |
Ben Griffin | Alex Ritthamel |
Bernd Wiesberger | Basile Dalberto |
Billy Horschel | Gareth Lord |
Brooks Koepka | Ricky Elliot |
Bryson DeChambeau | Greg Bodine |
Bud Cauley | Matt Hauser |
Caleb Surratt | Sean McDonagh |
Cameron John | Matthew Howell |
Cameron Smith | Sam Pinfold |
Cameron Young | Kyle Sterbinsky |
Casey Jarvis | Conrad Loubser |
Chris Gotterup | Brady Stockton |
Collin Morikawa | Mark Urbanek |
Corey Conners | Danny Sahl |
Dan Bradbury | Asa Phillips |
Dan Brown | Jonathan Bell |
Daniel Berger | Josh Cassell |
Daniel Hillier | Henry Tomlinson |
Darren Clarke | Keith Nolan |
David Duval | Lance Odom |
David Howard | John Howard |
David Puig | Brian Dilley |
Francesco Laporta | Noah Hessey |
Francesco Molinari | Raul Quiros |
Francesco Molinari | Laurie Potter |
Frederic Lacroix | Richard Logue |
Gary Woodland | Brennan Little |
Harris English | Ramon Bescansa |
Harry Hall | Connor Winstanley |
Haotong Li | Jady De Beer |
Hideki Matsuyama | Taiga Tabuchi |
Hennie du Plessis | Jason Reynolds |
Henrik Stenson | Fanny Sunesson |
Jack Buchanan | Kolton Lapa |
Jack McDonald | James Caldwell |
Jackson Suber | Greyson Porter |
Jacob Bridgeman | Gerald Cable |
Jacob Knapp | Brian Reed |
James Nicholas | Jeremiah Hayes |
Jason Day | Luke Reardon |
Jayden Schaper | Keagan Snalam |
JEONGWOO HAM | JUN HYUNG AN |
Jesper Svensson | Thomas Ridley |
Jiho Yang | Gyeongsik Hwang |
Joaquin Niemann | Diego Salinas |
Joakim Lagergren | Riku Mattila |
John Parry | Rob Gibson |
Jon Rahm | Adam Hayes |
Jordan Smith | Josh Read |
Jordan Spieth | Michael Greller |
Josele Ballester Barrio | Javier Erviti |
JT Poston | Aaron Flener |
Justin Rose | Mark Fulcher |
Justin Thomas | Matt Minister |
Kazuma Kobori | Angus Hay |
Kazuki Higa | Naomi Kanda |
Keegan Bradley | Scott Vail |
Keita Nakajima | Ren Okazaki |
Keith Mitchell | Brad Schneider |
Kristoffer Reitan | Timothy Poyser |
Kurt Kitayama | Daniel Kitayama |
Laurie Canter | Max Smith |
Lev Grinberg | Joshua Broadwell |
Ludvig Åberg | Joe Skovron |
Lucas Herbert | Nick Pugh |
Marco Penge | Max Bill |
Martin Couvra | Olivier Elissondo |
Mason Howell | Jimmy Gillam |
Mateo Pulcini | Clodomiro Carranza |
Matt McCarty | Devrath Das |
Matt Wallace | Jamie Lane |
Matthew Baldwin | Lewis Pownell |
Matthew Fitzpatrick | Dan Parratt |
Matthew Jordan | Chris Simmons |
Matthew Southgate | Billy Foster |
Maverick McNealy | Scout McNealy |
Max Greyserman | Adam Parmer |
Michael Brennan | Oliver Brett |
Michael Hollick | David Corrigan |
Michael Kim | Danny Stout |
Michael Thorbjornsen | JJ Jakovac |
Min Woo Lee | Shane Joel |
MJ Daffue | Shane Koeries |
Naoyuki Kataoka | Kokoro Yoshida |
Nevill Ruiter | Reinier Saxton |
Nicolai Højgaard | Christian Baech |
Nicolas Echavarria | Fabian Azcarate |
Nick Taylor | David Markle |
Padraig Harrington | Ronan Flood |
Patrick Cantlay | Joe LaCava |
Peter Uihlein | Zach Guthrie |
Pierceson Coody | Ryan Boshoven |
Pongsapak Laopakdee | Kyle Roadley |
Rasmus Højgaard | Tom Ayling |
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen | Brian Nilsson |
Ren Yonezawa | Garry Johnstone |
Rickie Fowler | Ricky Romano |
Robert MacIntyre | Michael Burrow |
Rory McIlroy | Harry Diamond |
Russell Henley | Andrew Sanders |
Ryan Fox | Dean Smith |
Ryan Gerard | John-Patrick Burke |
Ryo Hisatsune | Billy Spencer |
Ryutaro Nagano | Tomohiro Uemura |
Sahith Theegala | Carl Smith |
Sami Valimaki | Dominic Bott |
Sam Burns | Travis Perkins |
Sam Stevens | Will Dennis |
Samuel Bairstow | Alan Tulleth |
Scottie Scheffler | Ted Scott |
Scott Vincent | Kyle Basson |
Sepp Straka | Duane Bock |
Shane Lowry | Dermot Byrne |
Shaun Norris | Kyle Norris |
Si Woo Kim | Manuel Villegas |
Stewart Cink | Chris Jones |
Stuart Grehan | Greg Milne |
Sungjae Im | William Wilcox |
Thomas Detry | Lee Warne |
Tiger Christensen | Felix Faessler |
Tim Wiedemeyer | James Vargas |
Tom Kim | Dave Brooker |
Tom McKibbin | Ricky McCormick |
Tom Sloman | Alex Clapp |
Tommy Fleetwood | Ian Finnis |
Travis Smyth | Richard Hallam |
Tyrrell Hatton | Hugo Dobson |
Victor Perez | Sam Saunders |
Viktor Hovland | Shay Knight |
Wyndham Clark | David Pelekoudas |
Xander Schauffele | Austin Kaiser |
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