PGA Tour pro prefers having friend on bag
When Steve Marino first saw G.W. Cable he was awestruck. It was the Concorde District Championships in the fall of 1994. Cable, a senior at Oakton, was the best high school golfer in the Washington area. Marino, a freshman at W.T. Woodson, hoped someday to be as good.
“He was the man back in the day,” Marino said. “Everybody knew he was the best.”
Seventeen years later, Marino has achieved his goal, and their roles are reversed. While Marino, 31, is a fixture on the PGA Tour, earning more than $8.7 million in his career, Cable, 34, toils as his caddie.
| Steve Marino |
| Age » 31 |
| High School » W.T. Woodson |
| College » Virginia |
| Titles » Gateway-Sydney Frank Memorial (2006), Gateway-Beach Spring (2006), Virginia Amateur (1999), Virginia AAA state (1997), Virginia AAA Northern Region (1997). |
| G.W. Cable |
| Age » 34 |
| High School » Oakton |
| College » Xavier, George Mason |
| Titles » Dixie Amateur (1997), Virginia Junior Amateur (1994), Virginia AAA Northern Region (1994, ’92), Frank Emmett (1994, ’93), Virginia Junior Match Play (1992), Bobby Bowers Memorial (1992), Bobby Gorin Memorial (1992, ’90). |
Thursday at the Atlanta Athletic Club, when Marino tees off in the PGA Championship, Cable will do more for Marino than carry his bag. He will dispense advice, offer encouragement and be there if Marino needs a friend.
In a sport where caddies have become highly valued professional assistants, friends working for friends is rare. Recently, Tiger Woods was second-guessed for selecting one of his childhood pals, Bryon Bell, to take over for fired caddie Steve Williams. Woods was quick to explain that Bell’s assignment was temporary.
But there is nothing temporary about Marino-Cable, who have been together for more than three years. Marino not only values Cable for his friendship, but his playing ability.
“Having a caddie who’s been out on the tour forever, that experience might help you a little,” Marino said. “But I’d rather have a guy like G. who’s played competitively and knows what’s going on.”
Cable also comes in handy when Marino needs a playing partner. In January, before flying to Hawaii for his tour opener this year, Marino and Cable stopped off at PGA West in California, site of the following week’s Bob Hope Classic, and came upon PGA Tour pros Chris Kirk and Ben Martin.
Cable shot a 63, five strokes better than anyone in the group.
“It was awesome man,” Marino said with a chuckle. “We go to the first tee and I say, ‘Me and G. against you guys.’ They were like, ‘Well, what do you want to play for?’ I said, ‘Oh, I don’t know $50 Nassau?’ They were so quick to say yes because it was just me and my caddie. G. goes out there and dusts everybody, shoots 63 and lips out on 18 for 62. I videotaped the entire last hole on my iPhone. I showed it to everybody.”
So why isn’t Cable on the tour, too?
His inability to make it can be traced to two maladies — one physical (a bad back) and one mental (dyslexia).
Cable calls his condition “a severe form of dyslexia.” After struggling through high school, he was unable to meet the academic requirements for Division I athletics. Attempts to qualify through course work at Xavier, where he spent a semester, and George Mason University, which he attended for a year, were unsuccessful.
“I think not having four years of college really held me back,” Cable said. “The maturity, the travelling is almost like being on tour. I saw what college golf did for Steve. It set him up for success down the road.”
While Marino spent four years at Virginia, Cable was hammering away in mini-tour events in Florida. Soon he developed a disc problem.
“He definitely has the talent and ability to play [on tour],” Marino said. “But I think the grind of it all — the amount of practice that it takes to sustain your game — is just too much for his back. I think that’s pretty disappointing for him.”
Three years ago, Cable had all but given up his dream to play on tour and was living in Sarasota, Fla., where his parents had retired. He was working as an assistant pro at a golf course when he got a call from Marino, looking for a caddie for a few weeks.
In his first round with Cable, Marino shot a 65 to take the lead in the AT&T National at Congressional. A few weeks later, Marino asked Cable for a full-time commitment.
Like any relationship, Marino and Cable have had their ups and downs. After Marino made an over-aggressive choice on the final hole in the second round this year at the Memorial and made a triple bogey en route to missing the cut, it was time for a sit-down. Marino told Cable that he needed him to be more assertive and a voice of reason to counter his constant urge to gamble.
For the most part, however, the relationship is good. Cable recently moved across the state to be near his boss, who lives in Jupiter, Fla. Weeks off from the tour, the two play golf, paddleboard on the Loxahatchee River, fish and meet for beers. Days on tour are even better.
“I love it. I’m out there with a great friend. I get to see him hit awesome shots,” Cable said. “You’re at a beautiful place almost every week. It’s been amazing to me. Every week is still like a dream.”
