“You feel more included” - Caddies claim LIV Golf has ‘better quality to work’ than the PGA Tour and DP World Tour

LIV Golf’s inaugural season came to an end last Sunday with the Team Championship in Miami. The event was dubbed a success by its organizers and the players.

Now, the caddies involved in the event have also come forward to laud the Saudi-backed series. Dustin Johnson's caddie Austin has even stated that he 'felt more included' at the event as they were allowed to dine in with the players.

Ahead of the Team Championship event in Miami, Brooks Koepka came forward to state that everyone from players to caddies to managers had enjoyed LIV’s inaugural season.

Speaking at the Trump National Doral, he took a dig at other tours and stated that the LIV series treated caddies like 'human beings' by providing them services, including food.

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Caddies claim they are ‘happier’ at LIV Golf

Following the four-time major champion’s statement, caddies themselves have now confirmed that they felt 'happier' at LIV. Some caddies of the players in LIV Golf even claimed that they got 'better quality to work' compared to their counterparts in the PGA and DP World tours.

Austin Johnson, the caddie and brother of Dustin Johnson, stated that he felt 'more included' at LIV. He pointed out that the caddies were provided services including cool-down rooms and snacks in between events, which they did not get on the other circuits.

Speaking about the working conditions at LIV, Johnson said, according to Golfweek:

“You feel more included. The little stuff, like just being able to go into the player dining and eat, and my wife can go in there and hang out and they let her go in all the Club 54’s and get some air conditioning and get a snack, stuff like that… The Tour was great to us, it was a great place to work, LIV is just better quality of work for caddies.”

Johnson went on to dub himself as the 'most-spoiled caddie' in the game and said that he was happy to have 'all his expenses paid for'. However, he refrained from making direct comments on the PGA Tour. Johnson said:

“I’m the most-spoiled caddie in the history of golf, don’t get me wrong... but like a lot of these guys, to have all the expenses paid for, to show up to work and know they’re gonna get a paycheck, it's life-changing. It really is… I’m not trying to talk bad about the PGA Tour, I’m just trying to highlight how great it is out here."

"I sound like a spoiled little kid but it’s just nice to be done with the round and I can go sit up in the air conditioning, have lunch with Dustin, have a decent meal versus walking over to some tent and hoping there’s food in there.”

It is pertinent to note that LIV Golf had earlier revealed that all expenses for players’ caddies would be paid for by the series. This includes their travel, hotel, shuttles and food. Moreover, the series also lets the caddies have lunch with the players at the expense of the series during event weekends.

Considering that all golfers attending the event were paid, the caddies also received a handsome cut at the end of each event. It goes without saying that LIV’s 54-hole, no-cut event format also adds a more relaxed work environment for the players as well as the caddies.

Austin Johnson wasn’t the only caddie who came out to laud the rebel series. Harold Varner III’s caddie, Chris Rice, and Perez’s longtime looper Mike Hartford also voiced their pleasure at the event.

It should be noted that the LIV Golf series will transition to a 14-event league format in 2023, and it will be interesting to see how the players and caddies adapt to it.