Tommy Fleetwood has one of the most recognizable caddies on the PGA Tour in Ian Finnis.
They have been together since 2016, but for the first time, Finnis won’t be on his bag at Augusta National for the 88th Masters Tournament.
Ahead of his eighth Masters start, Fleetwood explained the change.
“He’s not been well all year,” Fleetwood said Wednesday. “At the moment, he’s at home trying to recover and get the right treatment. Hopefully, he’ll be back out sooner rather than later. It’s definitely different being without him. We’ve been together every tournament for the last eight years. So, we wish him all the best.”
It’s only the third time in the last eight years that Finno won’t be there. The first time came after the 2018 U.S. Open when Finnis’ son was born.
“We just wish him all the best. The sooner he can get better, the better for all of us. Everybody has been asking about him, which has been great. I know he’ll be desperate to come back out here as soon as possible.”
Fleetwood has played fairly well at Augusta National, finishing inside the Top 20 in three of his last six appearances. His longtime caddie was a big part of that.
“He’s a pretty big presence,” Fleetwood added. “It’s definitely very, very different. There is a huge comfort level when he’s out on the course with me. It’s just a bit weird. I’m far more bothered about him getting better and his health being right. He’s definitely in the right place at the moment. I look forward to when he does get back out.”
The 33-year-old Englishman will turn to someone with local knowledge to carry the bag at The Masters. He will have Augusta National’s former caddie master, Gray Moore, help him this week, per the PGA Tour.
Moore and Fleetwood have gotten to know each other throughout the years.
“The first two or three years that I came here, I always had Gray in practice and would always sit and speak to him,” Fleetwood said. “So I’ve known him well for the last few year,s and I just asked if he could do it this week.”
This marks the second straight week without “Finno” on the bag, as he wasn’t in San Antonio for the Valero Texas Open. Fleetwood finished T7 with Adrian Rietveld, a senior manager at TaylorMade, on his bag.
The No. 13 golfer in the world has come close multiple times in major championships, finishing runner-up at the 2018 U.S. Open and 2019 Open Championship. Last year, he was T5 at LA Country Club for the U.S. Open and T10 at Royal Liverpool for the Open.
His best finish at Augusta National came in 2022 when he tied for 14th.
This week, he is paired with alongside 2020 Masters Champion Dustin Johnson and two-time major winner Collin Morikawa. They tee off at 4:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
