Veteran caddie Billy Foster thinks the LIV Golf League is the perfect place for his colleagues to ply their trade.
In recent years, the Englishman has been caddying for PGA Tour star Matt Fitzpatrick, but in a wide-ranging interview with Genting Casinos, he outlined some of the perks caddies are accustomed to on the Tour's rival.
He said: “LIV looks like it's been designed by the caddies association. The caddies get all their expenses paid, the flights and hotels. They get the food paid for. They put money behind the bar for the caddies to have a drink.”
It’s not just matters off the course that are appealing for the caddies, either. Foster, who used to caddie for LIV Golf's Lee Westwood, also pointed out that the unique format of the tournaments - as well as the guaranteed prize money for every player - makes being on of its caddies the ideal role.
He added: “All the tee times are in the afternoon. It's a shotgun start. They play three rounds instead of four. And the prize money, whether you play good, bad or ugly, is very handsome. Players still get quite a bit of money for playing poorly. From a caddie's point of view, it's the dream, the LIV Tour.”
Foster also turned his attention to one of the more controversial topics in the elite game, slow play, and proposed a potential solution beyond fining players.
“I think it is time that a stricter limit was brought in, whether it be 60 seconds or 50 seconds and then you get a warning,” he said. “Then, if there was a threat of a penalty shot instead of a monetary fine, I'm sure that the players would change accordingly. I think it could be helped here.”
Foster also pointed out that it’s not just fans who suffer from a slower pace of play. He added: “If you're a fast player and you're playing with a couple of slower guys, then all of sudden the officials come and say you're out of position you need to get a move on then it's unfair on the quicker player too because they have to start rushing as well.”
During his long career, Foster has caddied for some of Europe’s biggest stars, including Westwood, Seve Ballesteros and Darren Clarke, where he frequently carried out his work on the DP World Tour. However, he worries that the lure of the PGA Tour has diminished the circuit and that its focus should return to the continent of its origins.
“I look at when I started in the 80s. You'd have Seve, Langer, Lyle, Woosnam, Faldo and Olazabal,: said the Englishman. "Then in the 90s you had Montgomerie, Clarke, Westwood, Harrington and Garcia. They all played the European Tour.
“Then the 2000s came along and the next batch still played quite a lot in Europe like Poulter, Casey, Rose et cetera, but then guys started leaving and playing in America full time and living in America.
“I’d love for there to be a German Open in Berlin, a Spanish Open in Madrid, the French Open in Paris, and all being big tournaments — an Italian Open in Rome — all your big countries, all the main cities, with a national Open. It doesn’t have to be fortunes. I’d just love to see the tour brought closer to Europe.”
In January, Foster revealed on Instagram that he was scaling back his caddying duties, and he also explained what that means, and why he's reducing his workload. He said: “I’m job sharing with Dan Parrott. Dan's caddied for about 15 years with the likes of Ben An and Thorbjorn Olesen and KH Lee. He's got a young family he wants to do a little bit less and I'm just getting ready for my bus pass.
“42 years of caddying, with all the transatlantic flying, you're walking the best part of 50 miles a week with four stone on your back and it's just catching up with me a bit. I just figured I'll just do a little bit less.”
