Michelle Wie Fires Caddie

[northzax]

Wie fires caddie after T-26 finish

By Ron Sirak
GolfDigest.com


Greg Johnston, who has caddied for Michelle Wie since she turned professional last October, was fired the day after the 16-year-old phenom finished T-26 in the Weetabix Women's British Open at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, GolfDigest.com has learned.

According to sources, Johnston, who won four major championships with Juli Inkster in their 12 years together, found out he had been dismissed from Wie's agent while at the gate at Manchester airport Monday on his way home.

Reached by phone Tuesday, Johnston confirmed the details of the situation.

"I was shocked and surprised, I thought we had a successful year," Johnston told GolfDigest.com. "And I was extremely disappointed that no one named Wie gave me the news."

from http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/columns/story?columnist=...

bush league firing, I must say. be decent at least.

[bmbmd]

1. I guess she is blaming him for the penalties.

A professional caddy should know the rules.

"Johnston, who had done some spot work for Wie while he was still caddying for Inkster, came on the bag full time at the Samsung World Championship last October. Wie finished fourth but was disqualified when a reporter told rules officials on Sunday she had taken an improper penalty drop on Saturday. The disqualification was for signing a scorecard that did not reflect the penalty and thus indicated a lower score. Wie was also penalized two strokes at Lytham, this time for touching a loose impediment in a bunker with her backswing on Friday."

[northzax]

2. the first one wsa his fault

the second one was hers. he never should have allowed her to sign her scorecard at Samsung without the penalty, but she incurred the Lytham one by her own actions.

[UrbScotty]

3. Damn... I wish I had that kind of power when I was 16 (nt)

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

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[Kingofalldems]

5. How many caddies has she fired?

This is about the third one.

[never cry wolf]

6. Check out this SI article on this...

She really is a little repug in the making....

Greg Johnston, who was Michelle Wie's caddie of less than a year before being fired Monday, a day after she finished tied for 26th at the British Women's Open, was reportedly "shocked and surprised" when he got the bad news from Wie's agent, Ross Berlin, of the William Morris Agency.

I wasn't. And Johnston shouldn't have been. Nor should he have been surprised about not getting the courtesy of a phone call from Wie or her family telling him he was unemployed. It's a pattern we've seen before.

Ask Juli Inkster. Johnston had caddied for Inkster since 1994 -- a run that included four of her seven major championships -- before he was offered the job carrying Wie's bag when she turned professional last October. It was just before the Solheim Cup, the women's version of the Ryder Cup, an event that Inkster cares very much about.

Given an ultimatum, Johnston chose the young phenom over the then-45-year-old Inkster, who hadn't won in two years. The timing of his defection, and the way it was handled, still makes the Hall of Famer fume.

"It would have been nice to get a phone call from the family, saying this is what we're thinking of doing," Inkster told me after she took the first-round lead at the Women's British Open last week with a 66. "I'd had Greg for 11 years. It's not like I was some rookie.

"But that's not the way they do things. Instead they gave him a take-it-or-leave-it in the middle of my season, right before the Solheim Cup. I don't blame him. He's got kids to think about. But that didn't sit well."
more----> http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/golf/08/09/wie.ca...

[Kingofalldems]

7. What arrogance

Sounds like the whole family is that way. I remember her father caddied for her in a pro tournament and the other players were fuming at his rude behavior.

[never cry wolf]

8. Didja read the article?

yes, they sound like qiute the bunch...

Johnston was looking after his future, and there wasn't a caddie on the LPGA tour who wouldn't have done exactly the same thing. This despite the fact that the Wies had already gone through nine caddies between 2003 and '05, when Michelle was an amateur, and that "every time she misses a green, it's the caddie's fault -- except when Dad's on the bag," as one experienced caddie told me at last year's Women's British.

[Kingofalldems]

9. I didn't read the article--just have followed her career

Nine caddies???? This girl is going to be a piece of work. I don't care for her, but I think the real bad guys in this are the people around her. They are responsible for her attitude.