As the saying goes, “Behind every good man, is a good woman.”

Fanny Sunesson

Picture by GerryWil

When Martin Kaymer was an amateur on the German National team, Fanny Sunesson was invited as a special guest to speak to the team. It was there the two met, became friends, and Kaymer would constantly call her for advice throughout his young career. Sunesson currently caddies for Henrik Stenson, but is most notable for her work with Sir Nick Faldo. 

Now that Kaymer is number one in the world, he continues to credit Sunesson with his rise to the top. Kaymer addressed his relationship with Sunesson at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

“Well, Fanny and me, we know each other since seven or eight years now. She was helping out us in the national team when I was an amateur. And she was talking about course management and strategy and some experience that she had with Nick Faldo, and I found it very interesting.
And then when I played the qualifying school five or six years ago, I could always call her and then we talked about a few suggestions for the golf course, how I felt about certain golf shots.
And then since 2008, when I won my first tournament, you know, we were talking about why I won, why I screw up some tournaments, you know, just to find solutions for things.
And in the end of the day, I found the solutions by myself but only through talking to her. And the experience that she had and the right questions that she asked me, they made me to the golf player I am today."

 Getty Images

If you want a little insight into the woman behind the man, you can read a rare interview she did in 2005 for the UK’s Times Online here. 

Some excerpts:

On being a female caddie:

“People ask all the time what the difference is being a woman working in a man’s world,” she says, “but I don’t know because I’ve never been a man. How would I know the difference? I’m a woman, but when it comes to my job I’m a caddie. I’m not a woman caddie — I’m a caddie, doing exactly the same things as the guys are doing. I am one of the guys.”

Speaking about being punched by a man:

 “He kept going on about the players and the bets he had made and I just didn’t want to know. I was still feeling sensitive about how I had been treated, so when he wouldn’t shut up, I kicked him on the shin. He flipped round in his chair and punched me in the stomach and face. I didn’t tell anyone, but I was very upset.”


Sunesson’s on her first caddie experience with a name you might be familiar with:
 “Excuse me sir. Do you need a caddie this week?” she’d ask.
“No thanks,” they’d reply. “I’ve already got someone.”
And then, as if she wasn’t there, they would walk straight to the guy standing opposite and offer him the job. The resentment hardened her resolve for the next 18 years. “It’s because I’m a girl,” she fumed then. “They think I can’t caddie because I’m a girl.” And by the time Jaime Gonzalez and the American Peter Teravainen arrived, there were just two of them left — her and Annika Sorenstam, the two last turkeys on the shelf at Christmas.