Bryson DeChambeau will have a familiar face on the bag this week. You might also call it a surprising one, too.

No Laying Up reported Tuesday night that DeChambeau’s former caddie Tim Tucker will be working for his old boss at the LIV Golf London event, with DeChambeau’s agent confirming the move to Golfweek.

Tucker was DeChambeau’s loop for all eight of DeChambeau’s PGA Tour wins, including his triumph at the 2020 US Open at Winged Foot. However, Tucker famously left DeChambeau on the eve of the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic, a tournament that DeChambeau was the defending champ. Tucker later said a combination of things led to the split, including that DeChambeau can be “very demanding” of his caddies.

But later in 2021, Tucker said he made “a big mistake in my timing” with the split, adding he harboured no animosity towards his former employer. Earlier this year Tucker told Golf Digest that he and DeChambeau still kept in touch after DeChambeau left for LIV Golf. “Yeah, absolutely,” Tucker said. “I got a Christmas gift [for DeChambeau], which a friend of mine made. I talk to him all the time.”

Tucker, who runs a luxury-shuttle service at Bandon Dunes, has hopped on several bags since departing DeChambeau. He is currently with Kurt Kitayama, working for him earlier in March when he won his first PGA Tour title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The reunion between DeChambeau and Tucker is expected to be short-lived, as DeChambeau’s regular caddie Greg Bodine is attending to a personal matter and will be back with Dechambeau later this month at the Open Championship. Tucker is scheduled to return to Kitayama’s bag at next week’s Genesis Scottish Open.

Though DeChambeau has not won in more than two years, he has shown signs of revival with his play, finishing T-4 at the PGA Championship in May and T-20 last month at the US Open. He also finished second at last week’s LIV Golf event in Spain.

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Zeigler will replace Tim Tucker, who was on the bag for each of DeChambeau’s eight PGA Tour wins. DeChambeau and Tucker split on the eve of last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. Cobra staffer Ben Schomin took on fill-in duties as DeChambeau missed the cut in his title defence at Detroit Golf Club.

“Jumping into the deep end!,” DeChambeau wrote on Instagram. “Excited to have Brian Zeigler joining the team as my new caddie. Can’t wait to have him be a part of the journey.”

 

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A post shared by Bryson DeChambeau (@brysondechambeau)

Zeigler comes into the role after a stint as an instructor at Dallas National Golf Club, which is DeChambeau’s home course and also the teaching home of his instructor, Chris Como.

After declining to speak with reporters at the Rocket Mortgage, DeChambeau expounded on the split with Tucker in an interview with Golf.com.

“Everybody always thinks there was some kind of falling out, but there really wasn’t. This was in the works for a while,” DeChambeau told Golf.com. “Tim is a really, really great friend of mine. He’s somebody that I’ve cared about, and still care about, and will care about for the rest of my life.”

The Golf.com piece also suggests DeChambeau and Tucker began discussing a split in late 2020, and that Zeigler had been tapped as THE successor.

Zeigler’s first week of work will be the Open Championship at Royal St. George’s, which begins Thursday.

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By Daniel Rapaport
Bryson DeChambeau and longtime caddie Tim Tucker have parted ways, according to multiple reports.

No Laying Up’s Chris Solomon first reported the news that Tucker, who had been on the bag for each of DeChambeau’s eight PGA Tour wins, would not be caddying for DeChambeau at this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. That was notable, given Tucker caddied for DeChambeau in last week’s Travelers Championship and in the practice rounds for the Rocket Mortgage. Tucker was also listed as DeChambeau’s caddie in the weekly player-caddie list compiled by the Caddie Network.

Solomon then tweeted that Tucker “quit, and will no longer caddie for Bryson.” Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner then confirmed the news with DeChambeau’s agent, Brett Falkoff, who suggested the split was mutual in nature.

Source: Bryson’s caddie, Tim Tucker, will not be on the bag for Bryson today.

Tim was present and caddying for Bryson in the practice rounds this week.

There will be more to this story.

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) July 1, 2021

“They had a good run, and they mutually agreed yesterday afternoon to go their separate ways,” Falkoff told Lavner. “Everything runs its course. Tim was getting tired and Bryson was getting tired. In any relationship, they run their course, and that’s what happened here.”

It’s not the first time DeChambeau and Tucker have split—they did so briefly in 2017 only to reunite the following year. Tucker held one of the more demanding caddying gigs in world golf, given DeChambeau’s numbers-based approach and rigorous playing and practicing schedule.

DeChambeau will have Ben Schomin, a tour operations manager for Cobra Golf, on the bag this week for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

UPDATE: Golfweek’s Adam Schupak received a response from Tucker prior to DeChambeau’s first round, with Tucker stating he was “proud” to be Bryson’s caddie.

Caddie Tim Tucker texted me on break up with @b_dechambeau before opening round of @RocketClassic: “I love the Kid. Hardest worker I have ever seen. Proud to have been his Caddie. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him win Rocket Mortgage. He is hitting it great.” @golfweek

— Adam Schupak (@AdamSchupak) July 1, 2021

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By Brian Wacker
HOUSTON—Lexi Thompson is still looking for her second career major after winning her first, the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship (now ANA Inspiration), a month after her 19th birthday.

Perhaps using a caddie who was recently on the bag of another major champion will help.

At this week’s U.S. Women’s Open, Thompson is employing the services of Tim Tucker. He’s the caddie for Bryson DeChambeau, who won his first career major at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in September. Thompson, who is searching for a full-time caddie, shares an agent with DeChambeau, and the PGA Tour is off until January, making the move possible.

Transitioning from the men’s game to the women’s shouldn’t be a big deal. Plenty of caddies have worked both tours and Tucker is a veteran.

Going from golf’s mad scientist to Thompson? That’s another story.

“He’s used to a whole different player,” Thompson said Wednesday at Champions Golf Club. “[I’m] definitely a lot more simple, I guess, out on the golf course. I don’t carry a yardage book, so I usually just ask for the pin number and where I should land it, and that’s about it.”

To say that DeChambeau operates differently is an understatement. Radius control, predictive analysis and air density calculations are just part of the repertoire.

Then there’s Thompson.

The first day she and Tucker went out on the course together, Tucker had a number of factors—green and air density included, according to Thompson—factored into the yardages he gave the 25-year old.

“It was unbelievable,” Thompson said. “The first two holes he said, ‘It’s going to play this number.’ And I trusted it and I hit it so close, and it was a perfect number.

“But I’m, like, maybe I should just have another—like the actual pin number in my head just for my sanity. But it’s unbelievable what he calculates. I’m truly amazed. I’m like, ‘Just keep it to yourself; just tell me what you think the shot will play.’”

Perhaps more important to what Tucker brings to the bag are more intangible elements.

“He’s great out there, great personality, and we just feed off each other and definitely [have] a lot of laughs,” Thompson said. “Whether you’re playing good or bad, I feel like he’s always going to be positive, and that’s what I need by my side out there, because major championships, there will be some difficult shots and some bad ones, and it’s just important to stay in it.

“I’ve said it before, but I just want my best friend and somebody to be there for me at my side, and at the same time doing my numbers.”

A new caddie isn’t the only thing Thompson is breaking in this week. She also switched putters, something she’s done a few times this year. This week, she’ll use a TaylorMade Spider model, with the idea that the mallet-style head will help reduce face rotation in her stroke. In making the change she’s also tweaked her setup, moving closer to the ball.

Maybe some of Tucker’s green-reading skills and major mojo will also rub off. And there maybe is history to be matched: Only once before has a caddie been on the bag for both a men’s and women’s major winner. Mark Fulcher caddied for Alison Nicholas when she won the 1997 U.S. Women’s Open and looped for Justin Rose when he captured the 2013 U.S. Open.

But Tucker’s caddying will only go so far. He won’t have to worry about feeding Thompson protein shakes the way he does with DeChambeau.

“Oh, no,” she said. “Gosh, I wouldn’t fit in my skirts. But he did ask me, ‘Do I have to give you your food and whatnot?’ and I’m like, no, I’m good. I’ll eat every two to three holes and do my own routine, so I’m good.”

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By Brian Wacker
HOUSTON — Lexi Thompson will have a familiar figure on her bag at this week’s U.S. Women’s Open. Tim Tucker, who caddies for Bryson DeChambeau on the PGA Tour, will be looping for Thompson at Champions Golf Club.

Brett Falkoff, who is the agent for both DeChambeau and Thompson, confirmed the news first reported by Golfweek.

With the PGA Tour off until January, and Thompson still searching for a full-time caddie since her former caddie, Benji Thompson, left to work for Kevin Chappell, Tucker became available. He also brings a championship pedigree, having caddied at Winged Foot in September when DeChambeau won the U.S. Open title by six shots.

Should the 25-year-old Thompson go on to win her second career major this week, it is believed to be the first time that the same caddie has been on the bag for both the men’s and women’s U.S. Open champion in the same year.

Gregory Shamus
Tim Tucker and Bryson DeChambeau celebrate after winning the U.S. Open by six-strokes at Winged Foot.

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The last time Thompson played, three weeks ago at the Pelican Women’s Championship, she had her brother, Curtis, on the bag. She tied for 27th. Curtis, who plays on the Korn Ferry Tour and won on that circuit in September, will be back on his younger sister’s bag at next week’s CME Group Tour Championship, a tournament Lexi won with Curtis caddying in 2018.

Thompson, who finished tied for second to Jeongeun Lee6 at last year’s U.S. Women’s Open at the Country Club of Charleston, is still looking for her first win this season. Her best finish in 2020 was a fourth-place showing at the ANA Inspiration in September.

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