'Wobbly' may get a recall

In the wake of his sacking by Ian Woosnam, Bray's Myles Byrne has been labelled by a British tabloid as "the most famous caddie in the world". This gives him greater prominence than Steve Williams, the highly-regarded looper for the most famous player in the world, Tiger Woods.

But it an unwanted distinction, given that the Daily Mail bases Byrne's notoriety on costing Woosnam serious prize money in last month's British Open and on over-sleeping in Sweden on Sunday.

Woosnam is now left to wonder about his decision to break with long-time caddie, Phil Morbey, otherwise known as "Wobbly", three months ago. The pair shared countless triumphs, most notably the 1991 US Masters, which marked the high-point of Woosnam's career.

Believing that it was in Morbey's best interest that they should part, Woosnam told him: "I'm cutting down on my schedule and I'm worried that you will not make enough money for your family if you stay with me." Apparently both men were close to tears.

So, Morbey went with Jose Maria Olazabal, who has been having a decidedly thin time since then, while Woosnam had a resurgence of form with Byrne on his bag. Even the error of having 15 clubs in his bag on the opening hole of the final round in the British Open failed to precipitate a split, even though Woosnam, quite wrongly, held Byrne responsible.

The Welshman took the view that the 31-year-old had learned a painful lesson and wouldn't make the same mistake again. As it happened, he didn't, though Byrne was promptly given the sobriquet "The Count", by his caddying colleagues.

Instead, he was still out for the count, in a manner of speaking, when he should have been on the first tee for the final round of the Scandinavian Masters. By over-sleeping for a 7.15 a.m. tee-time, Byrne left Woosnam with no option other than to break open a locker to retrieve his golf shoes and then go in search of a replacement caddie.

Now there is speculation that Woosie and Wobbly may join forces again, just as Nick Faldo has done with Fanny Sunesson and Ernie Els with Ricci Roberts this season. But it can't happen in time for the player's next assignment in the Wales Open which starts at Celtic Manor on Thursday: Wobbly was with Olazabal in the International at Castle Pines last weekend and will be going on to this week's Buick Open at Warwick Hills.