It was Monday afternoon and Martin Trainer wanted to play nine holes at the TPC Twin Cities in preparation for this week’s 3M Open. The only problem: he hadn’t heard his caddy, Aaron Crawford.
“I expected him to write around 2:00 pm,” said Trainer.
More time passed. Nothing.
About an hour later, the phone rang. It was Crawford and he told his boss that he would have to find someone else to carry his bag this week.
The coach was saddened but also elated. Crawford had just shot 63 at nearby Victory Links on Monday to qualify for the 3M. The coach, a 29-year-old PGA Tour winner, was once supposed to find a replacement hook for the bag.
“When I got no response at first, I thought I’d better see what was going on, so I went online thinking that the round had taken a while and when I checked the score I saw that he was eight years old,” said Trainer. “I thought I may need a new cart. I texted him and told him to do a great tour. “
Indeed. At one point, Crawford snatched six birds in a seven-hole stretch in the middle of his round.
Although it’s not the first time that a caddy will play in the same tournament as his boss – it happened at the 2009 Valero Texas Open with Lance Ten Broeck and Jesper Parnevik – this week’s 3M will be the first start of the 25-year-old Canadian on the PGA Tour after be out of high school in 2012 and have worked for the last few years on mini tours and on the north circuit of the PGA Tour border, the Mackenzie Tour.
Only recently did Crawford begin grappling with the corpse, working a couple of tournaments last year and little more this year for Trainer, with whom he made friends during the qualification school of the Korn Ferry Tour in Palm Springs.
“It’s a process,” Crawford said of the ups and downs of the quest to reach the PGA Tour. “Deep down, though, I’m a player.”
Even though he lost his caddy for the week – he will have Golf.com’s Sean Zak in the bag instead – The coach was more than happy about Crawford’s breakthrough, not only for their friendship but because he knows better than most of the line is between success and abyss. In his 35 starts from his lonely victory in Puerto Rico last year, Trainer has lost the cut 29 times.
However, he feels good about the direction in which his game is headed, in part because of the work done with his trainer Terry Rowles and the second set of eyes that Crawford has provided. He also likes what he sees from Crawford.
“I think he has a great chance of playing well,” said Trainer. “He’s clearly playing well right now and he’s one of the best putters I’ve ever seen. He has a game to compete on tour. “
Although Crawford won’t be on the stock exchange, he and Trainer won’t be far from each other this week either. The two share a hotel room and will pull towards each other.
What if the coach permanently loses his cart?
“He’s clearly overqualified,” said Trainer. “I would be happier for him to go on and have a great career than I would be for having it in my bag.”
.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gruponacion/LPCKFNCP2REMXBZWXFKDF7JVWA.png?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1)