The hosiery did not begin as a fashion statement. John “Long Socks” McLaren, the caddie famed for his flamboyant on-course attire, had a practical reason to stand out from the crowd.
“It started in a fire,” McLaren explains. “I couldn’t expose my legs to the sun after that. I would have been 24/25 at a house and there was a fire, we were chucking debris on it to clear stuff. There was a methane pocket in it and it blew up to burn my legs from the knees down when I was wearing shorts.
“I had to wear long socks playing tennis at that point under doctor’s orders and ended up just sticking with it. I started caddying in the US and everyone had shorts on; they told me to pull the socks down but I was only ever pulling them up.”
For at least the time being, McLaren has hung up his bib. After 30 seasons, 18 wins and a dozen players, the popular 55-year-old has decided to step back from caddie duties. The Saudi International, alongside Paul Casey, marked McLaren’s final event as he reverts to family duties in Surrey. Had coronavirus not struck, McLaren estimates he would continue working for another three years.
“My children are eight and nine,” says McLaren. “My son broke his arm during the last Ryder Cup and I wasn’t there. My daughter was born during Lytham in 2012 and because of the Open, I have never really been there for her birthday.
“Covid travel became so much more difficult. I have no mental health issues but I understand that there are a lot around because of this climate. I am mentally more tired because of travel and anxiety of testing positive after a two- or three-week trip then being stuck in a country when I have young kids. Similarly, I go home and they are in school and I worried about not being able to get back out to work. That created a lot of uncertainty I’d rather not have to deal with.”
McLaren will be missed, including by Casey on account of his career rejuvenation after turning to the experienced bag man in 2015. “We didn’t know each other very well when we started. It was a business relationship and we’ve become best mates,” Casey says. McLaren believes Casey utilised his services as “more of a mentor or father figure”.
McLaren in many ways represents the old-school caddie. He is, though, keen to point out the deep use of analysis and statistics that have made him so valuable in the current era. The role and profile of the caddie have changed; but for the better? “I don’t know about that, necessarily. I have always argued that you should take the most professional caddie if you are as ambitious as you say you are. Personally, I don’t see how a mate can necessarily be the most ambitious way of getting the best out of yourself. It needs someone to challenge you, someone to bring something that is different.”
McLaren cites the “unbelievable experience” of the Rio Olympics, with Casey, as a career highlight. He was with Luke Donald for the 2012 Miracle of Medinah. “Luke was at the pinnacle of his powers,” McLaren recalls. “I had a great sense of knowing what to do for him at that point. There was great security there.
“I will miss aspects of this. The camaraderie, the competition. I can’t say I haven’t got an ego because there’s enough of that in there to still make me want to be better than everybody else at this job. It rubs your ego when you do well. I will miss people like [the coach] Jamie Gough, a friend I have had for a long time. People like Ian Poulter. I think the world of Ian and I wouldn’t have had that without Ryder Cups.”
McLaren refuses to rule out a return to the fairways, albeit after a decent rest. He will not quite speak of retirement. “Firstly, I am going to do school runs,” he adds. “I will be on the touchline for kids’ games at school. I will be back on my bike training like I used to. I’ll play a bit more social golf. I know for the next six to eight months there is pretty much no chance I’ll be back out here unless a world No 1 to 8 calls and says they would like my help to be better. For the foreseeable future, I will be at home.” Which is golf’s loss.
