CADDIE'S ROLE:A top jockey is not going to win a top race on a mule – it's the same principle for us caddies, writes COLIN BYRNE

IT HAS been an interesting time for a number of high profile player/caddie relationships. Tiger Woods has arrived back on the PGA Tour in California with his new choice of bagman in Joe LaCava. They made a pretty good debut together given the lack of form of the former world number one in recent times.

As caddies, many of us have been in the position of working for falling heroes. Seve Ballesteros played the European Tour for years in decline and many were sucked into the Iberian dream of revival even though survival was the more likely challenge. Nick Faldo went through some optimistic loopers as he was fading out of world golf with the lure of reigniting the flame of the glory days even though the exercise was one of gradual acceptance that those days were long gone.

We all saw Tiger in what appeared to be his nadir with a lifelong friend caddying for him in the PGA a few months back. With the former indomitable super hero looking more like Joe Chop on one hole, hitting it from a greenside bunker into the water, it certainly looked like the glory days were long gone.

The bookmakers had a fanciful list of favourites to replace Tiger’s extremely confident and competent bagman, Steve Williams, as key advisor. With my own name appearing high up on that list my suspicion of bookmakers’ favourites was compounded as I had had zero communication from the Woods machine.

I suspect that any of us caddies, seasoned or more recent to the game, would have undoubtedly been flattered by being considered as a possible right-hand man to Tiger. At his age and with his innate talent I believe it is inevitable he will make a comeback.

Whether he reasserts himself on the untouchable perch that he inhabited in his dominant day is open to debate. But I do believe that you cannot ultimately repress talent and it has to rear its pretty head again in the future, assuming the talented one still has the appetite for success.

It is a tough task for a caddie to step into the shoes of the most successful caddie in the professional game, Williams. He and Tiger developed a dynamic that was formed around an exceptional talent but more importantly that talent was in unbeatable form.

Confidence is infectious. I remember caddying for the best player I have ever looped for so far, Retief Goosen, when he contended every event he played in for a three-month spell after he won the US Open in Shinnecock Hills. I felt that any week Retief teed up his ball during that period he had a chance of winning. His confidence and obvious talent were riding high and we both knew it. Of course with most players this doesn’t last. So it is important to enjoy it while it does.

Tiger and Steve enjoyed this enduring success for almost a decade. What a privilege for a caddie to be enveloped by such a dynamic for such a long period.

Despite Steve giving Tiger the relevant information and vital back-up in relentlessly intense tournament conditions, your back-up information is largely irrelevant if your supremely gifted player is not firing on all cylinders.

So it is with Tiger’s new man Joe. The bond and endurance of a caddie/player relationship is based on success. The caddie knows what his player can do under pressure and likewise the talented player knows what to expect from his bagman under pressure. It is obviously harder to work for a less talented player, who is not playing well. A top jockey is not going to win a top race on a mule.

Joe caddied for Fred Couples for over 20 years. He obviously developed a bond with Couples over those decades. More importantly, he started with him when he was a top player in form. It was easier to develop the relationship because it was based on success. It is a sign of LaCava’s confidence in Tiger that he has abandoned a top player in Dustin Johnson to pick up Tiger’s bag.

There are two other caddie/player partnerships that have recently been rekindled that enjoyed some of the success of the good old days last week in California. Ernie Els has rejoined his caddie of old, Rikki Roberts, as recently as two weeks ago in the Dunhill Challenge. This is either the fourth or fifth time he has been reinstated. Rikki couldn’t remember how many times himself when I met him in St Andrews a few weeks ago.

Ernie was looking for some of that old dynamic that he and Rikki enjoyed with multiple wins, including three Majors together. Ernie ended up tied fourth last week. Do good memories of the old days help you play better or is it the added impetus of the person who was at your side for all those good times that spurs you on to success?

Paul Casey re-hired his old bagman Craig Connelly earlier in the summer to try to get some of his good golfing feelings and memories back. It has taken a little longer to recapture them but he seemed to find some of that old form in California last week. Paul finished tied seventh.

Tiger is a huge talent and Joe LaCava is a good and experienced caddie. He has all the credentials to fill the Tiger bagman void. But he is totally dependent on his master to perform because as all of us bagmen understand, we are only as good as the guy hitting the shots.