Caddies know best

Larry Dorman of the New York Times published this great piece on how valuable local caddies are at Pebble Beach. Here’s a great story from the article:

When Donald Trump awakened Lytle early one morning in 1993 to hire him as his AT&T caddie, it was the beginning of a relationship that produced one of the more memorable tales in the history of the tournament. There have been a number of apocryphal retellings, and Lytle — with verification from Trump and others — set the record straight.

“I did not hang up on him,” Lytle said, chuckling. “I was sleeping, it was early, and the phone rings and he says, ‘Rocket, this is the Donald.’ And I said, ‘Who the hell is the Donald? This is the Rocket, and you woke me up.’ ”

After Trump laughed and Lytle realized Trump actually was the voice on the phone, they quickly worked out a deal. And a couple of months later at Spyglass, they worked out another while they were backed up on the tee at the 188-yard, par-3 12th hole.

“We’re paired with Paul Goydos at the time,” Lytle said. “So Donald wants to hit a 6-iron and Goydos wants him to hit 6-iron and I want him to hit 5-iron. So we’re going back and forth and finally I said to him: ‘O.K., Donald, I’ll tell you what, you hit the 5-iron and if I’m wrong you don’t have to pay me. If I’m right, you pay me double.’

“He looked at me and said, ‘You sure?’ ” Lytle continued. “And I said, ‘Yeah, I’m sure.’ I was sure, but I was thinking maybe he’d hit it too hard and try to prove me wrong. But he hit it perfect. Two bounces and it went in the hole.”