Golf caddie apologises to Rory McIlroy 'five times' during PGA Tour event

A stand-in PGA Tour caddie who once played as a quarterback on the NFL has revealed how he apologised to Rory McIlroy 'five times' during the second round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last month.

Anderson, 41, last month made his debut as a PGA Tour caddie after being called up on the bag of one-time winner Kevin Chappell.

Billy Horschel was a late withdrawal from the PGA Tour's lone team event of the season in New Orleans, and so his good pal Tom Hoge called up his good friend Chappell to join him.

Horschel this week confirmed he has had to undergo hip surgery, and therefore will miss out on the remainder of the majors and be unable to return to the PGA Tour until the fall. 

Chappell and Hoge had the honour of joining defending champions McIlroy and Shane Lowry for the opening two rounds of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana. 

It was very much a pinch-yourself moment for avid golf fan and 3-handicapper Anderson, especially after McIlroy was making his first start since having won The Masters to become just the sixth golfer in the history of the men's game to complete the career grand slam. 

Only things didn't quite go to plan for Anderson, who spent 14 years as a QB on the NFL playing for Baltimore Ravens (2005), Cleveland Browns (2005-2009), Arizona Cardinals (2010), Carolina Panthers (2010-2017) and Buffalo Bills (2018). 

At least during the second round when the stand-in caddie made a complete hash of things on the 17th during Friday's foursomes. 

Anderson revealed his hilarious tale while appearing on the GOLF Subpar podcast.

Scroll below to hear what happened...

When asked to describe his experience of caddying in McIlroy's group at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, former NFL star Anderson replied: "Oh yeah, that was great!" 

"I felt 5'1" tall," continued Anderson. 

"So Kevin hit that shot on 17 (par-3) on Friday. Shane missed the hosel by an inch. 

"I kind of walked back and I’m kind of not really sure where to go, because the flag was over there and Shane’s chipping.

"I was like, ‘I just want to go put this bag down, get my guy’s putter. Let’s get this over with.’ So I go behind the green and Rory’s chipping from the front-right of the green, right back at me.

"Michael Collins (ESPN course commentator) says something to me and I look down [to the side], I don’t even know what he was saying and all of a sudden I hear Chappie (Chappell) yell from 40 yards away, ‘DA, stop moving!’

"I was like, ‘Oh s***.’ I grabbed the bag and went right behind the camera guy and I just stood there and I froze. I thought, ‘Oh my God, I don’t even know what to do, what am I doing, there’s all these people here.’ Kinda freaking out.

"Meanwhile, Rory had stepped off the chip. Apparently, when I looked down I bothered him. And then he steps up and proceeds to lay sod over it, and I’m like ‘Oh, no.’ And then they made a bogey.

"As we were walking off, I tapped him with the putter like, ‘I’m so sorry dude.' Going up 18, I’m just staying as far away from him as I could. I apologised to him like five times."

Lowry then jokingly said to Anderson: "It took you two days and you finally screwed it up!"

Watch Anderson tell his story here: 

Chappell and Hoge went on to finish last of those teams that made the halfway cut.  

They finished on a total score of 14-under par in solo 36th.

McIlroy and Lowry ended up eight shots better on 22-under par in tied 12th.

Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak went on to win the tournament by one shot over Danish twins Rasmus Hojgaard and Nicolai Hojgaard.

Griffin and Novak finished at 28-under par. 

It marked the first title of Griffin and Novak's PGA Tour careers. 

Chappell has limited starts on the PGA Tour after having lost his card last season.

The current World No.376 now primarily competes on the lower-tier Korn Ferry Tour. 

The American won his sole PGA Tour title to date at the 2017 Valero Texas Open when he held on for a one-shot victory over five-time major champion Brooks Koepka.