LIV Golf’s Phil Mickelson, Caleb Surratt raid PGA Tour caddie yard for two veterans
LIV Golf’s Phil Mickelson and Caleb Surratt have dipped into the PGA Tour caddie ranks for not one but two regular caddies, sources tell Golfweek.
Mickelson announced on social media that his younger brother, Tim, who had served as his caddie for the past eight years including during the 2021 PGA Championship victory at Kiawah, has retired as his caddie. But he didn’t name a replacement. Golfweek has learned that veteran caddie Jon Yarbrough will be on the bag starting next week at the LIV Golf Miami event and the following week at the Masters.
Yarbrough, who has caddied for more than 20 years and for Scott Stallings for the past decade, won’t be on the bag for him this week at the Tour event in Houston. Yarbrough has previously caddied for the likes of Gary Woodland, Bill Haas, Smylie Kaufman and on the LPGA for Kelly Robbins, Morgan Pressel and Suzanne Pettersen. Stallings, 39, made the Tour Championship in 2022 but is winless since the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open and has missed the cut in five of eight starts this season. Stallings is expected to have his swing coach on his bag this week. According to a source, Stallings and Yarbrough are very close, but the amount of guaranteed money offered “was incredible.” Reached via phone, Yarbrough declined to comment.
That’s not the only LIV Golf caddie change. Caleb Surratt, who signed with LIV out of Tennessee earlier this year and joined Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII, has wooed Brian Dilley, another veteran Tour caddie, who had been on the bag of Akshay Bhatia, to take over for him.
“I’m still learning, growing, and working on everything that I’m beginning to see what I need as a player in order to grow and be able to compete to the highest level, and I think Brian Dilley‘s gonna be able to help me get to that point,” Surratt wrote via text of Dilley, who has worked with Aaron Wise, Billy Horschel, and the LPGA’s Gerina Piller, among others. “He has caddied at an extremely high-level for longer than I’ve been alive, and undoubtably will be a great set of eyes to have on my golf game. Everyone on my team around me, speaks very highly of him, and I’m very excited to get to work with him in the coming weeks. It’s been a very enjoyable ride so far, and I’m excited to keep learning myself, and learning professional golf game, and eventually grow to be one of the best players in the world.”
So, while the defections to LIV may have stopped for the time being as negotiations between the Tour and PIF linger, it hasn’t stopped the league from raiding the Tour caddie yard.
