Hours before Morgan Pressel stepped onto the first tee at the start of the McDonald?s LPGA Championship, her caddy, Sam Hindshaw, was already hard at work.
Hindshaw started her day with a 7:30 wake-up call and a patrol of the 18 new hole placements. In a ritual that might be the difference between first place and being cut, Hindshaw walked the greens and fairways to see how the previous night?s thunderstorms had transformed the course.
Recommended Stories
“Sam is the first pro caddy Morgan has ever had,” Pressel?s grandfather Herb Krickstein said. “She is reliable, hard-working, ready to help and comes to the course real early.”
Around 11 a.m. Hindshaw is responsible for getting the 18-year-old golfer to the putting greens and driving range to prepare for the Bulle Rock course. She is also in charge of finding any inside information she can about the course and adjustments other professionals will be making.
“Yesterday, putting was her problem,” Hindshaw said before Sunday?s final round. “Some veterans told me that one of the [practice] putting greens is a lot slower than the course and the other isn?t. So I told Morgan?s grandfather, and after 10 minutes on the slower green Morgan moved down to the faster one.”
Before, during and after every round Hindshaw is working to better Pressel?s advantage by forecasting pin and green distances.
In her khaki pants and standard white hat, Hindshaw remains on the par-3 greens for more than six minutes waiting for the previous group to finish its puts. During this time she discusses strategy with Terry McNamara, Annika Sorenstam?s caddy, and daily weather situations with local volunteers.
“I guess we just clicked a little bit,” Hindshaw said of Pressel. “We have a lot in common. We listen to hip-hop, so we can walk down the fairways singing different songs.”
At the end of the roundHindshaw walks off the course after hours of work but finds it hard to relax. “It depends on how the day goes,” she said. “Normally, we?ll work on whatever Morgan struggled with during the round.”
THE PRESSEL FILE
» Morgan Pressel, who resides in Boca Raton, Fla., is a rookie on this year?s tour and is ranked No. 18 on the ADT official money list.
» Last year, she won the U.S. Women?s Amateur title.
» She finished tied for second at last year?s U.S. Women?s Open on the LPGA Tour, her highest finish on the tour to date.
