Tiger and Rory vs. Spieth and JT: What to watch at The Match

Though it was his sense of adventure and a firm belief in his golf skills that led Jimmy Johnson out of Texas and onto the Sunshine Tour in South Africa in late 1979, it was something else that kept him there. Impeccable character. “We struck up a friendship when he first got over here,” said Nick Price, the Zimbabwean who was just digging in as a professional golfer in the late 1970s. “We played a few times together that year and it was a pleasant experience. “The next year our friendship jelled,” Price continued. “At the Christmas break, he said he wasn’t going (back to Texas) so I asked him to come up to Zimbabwe with me. Christmas is nice up there, I told him, and we had a wonderful time.” This week Johnson, 64, will blend into the background as Justin Thomas’ caddie at the BMW Championship at Caves Valley in Owings Mills, Maryland. But he’ll also be inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Price, an 18-time PGA TOUR winner, said he wasn’t surprised that they connected all those years ago, because “Jimmy is an easy person to get along with.” Years later, in fact, Price hired Johnson as his caddie. When news circulates of his Caddie Hall of Fame induction, Price added, “A lot of people will feel very good, because so many people know him as such a good person.” Johnson has taken it all in with his typical humility. “I’m pleasantly surprised, to be honest,” he said. “But when I first heard the news, I was shocked. I told Vince (Pellegrino, senior vice-president of tournaments for the Western Golf Association) when he called me with the news that it would have been the furthest thing from my mind.” Price said he felt he could speak for anyone who has met Johnson – and especially for Steve Stricker and Thomas, the players Johnson has caddied for since 2008 – that the honor is spot on. Pointing to Johnson’s body of work – approximately 650 tournaments across 25-plus years, with 25 victories – Price called it “brilliant.” But he emphasized what isn’t part of the data. “Each move Jimmy made involved changes,” he said. “Steve was younger and played different than me, and then Justin was even younger, and he plays different than both of us. “So many differences. It was not an easy thing, but Jimmy adjusted. It’s a credit to him.” The Caddie Hall of Fame was started in 1979 and currently is administered by the Western Golf Association, which conducts the BMW Championship. Its members are a veritable Who’s Who of the PGA TOUR, including Steve Williams, Mike “Fluff” Cowan, Jim “Bones” Mackay, Joe LaCava, Bruce Edwards, Fanny Sunesson, and Andy Martinez. There are also icons who started in the game as caddies (Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, to name a few), plus celebrities and golf dignitaries who earned a love of the game as caddies (Bill Murray and his brothers, former USGA executive director David Fay, investment giant Charles Schwab, and former MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth). But if there’s an enshrined caddie with whom Johnson will forever be linked, it’s Jeff “Squeaky” Medlin. A popular, wire-thin caddie with a high-pitched voice, Medlin was instrumental in Price’s three major championships and No. 1 world ranking in the early 1999s. He was diagnosed with leukemia and had to step away from his work in late 1996. But he stayed in Price’s ear. “He told me, ‘Nick, get JJ (Jimmy Johnson) to caddie for you,” said Price. “I told him I was thinking of it, but I didn’t know if I should, because we were such good mates. “Squeak just looked at me and said, ‘He’ll be good for you.’” Medlin had pulled the right club, one final time. Playing against the best Johnson wasn’t always the guy carrying someone else’s clubs. He arrived on the Sunshine Tour at 22, a kid from Dallas who played collegiately at North Texas State and faced contemporaries like Hal Sutton, Fred Couples, Chip Beck, Phil Blackmar, Payne Stewart and Bob Tway. In the ’78 U.S. Amateur at Plainfield CC in New Jersey, Johnson lost in the third round to Bobby Clampett, then fell short at the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. Goodbye, Dallas; hello, Johannesburg. Johnson was ready for golf and prepared for adventure. He never imagined it being a 17-year run, but close calls at Q School back home – three times he missed at the finals – kept him chasing his dream half a world away. “Jimmy was such a good player,” said Price. “He was diligent, worked hard, played methodically and managed his game well. Really, the fact that he never got over the hump, as I call it, saddened me. It saddened a lot of us who really liked him.” The highlight to Johnson’s Sunshine Tour career came with a victory in the 1991 Bastille Players Tournament at Paarl Golf Club in Western Cape. By 1996, though, Price knew that Johnson going to call it quits and that Medlin’s advice, offered late in the year, was worth exploring. “I was just going to be filling in,” said Johnson, who had caddied a little for Mark McNulty, “until Squeaky got back.” It didn’t take long for the success, and the emotions, to flow their way. Price won the MCI Classic at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, shooting 65-69-69-66, his first PGA TOUR win in more than two years. Price being Price, he dedicated the win to Medlin, who would die two months later, and was thrilled to share it financially with Johnson. “It’s one thing to hire a friend,” said Price, “but it’s gratifying when you have success with him.” It was a productive ride: From 1997 through 2003, Price and Johnson won three times on the PGA TOUR, once in Japan. Upon turning 47 in 2004, Price pared down his schedule and urged Johnson to seek out other bags. He did, bouncing around from Michelle Wie to Adam Scott, back to Price, over to assorted others. Johnson settled in for a three-year run with Charles Howell III, who experienced the dry, quick wit that Price loved about Johnson. Once, after Howell suffered a poor putting performance, his caddie shook his head and quietly said: “If you don’t start putting any better, I’m going to go back to Michelle Wie.” Price laughs when he recounts stories like this. When Johnson landed with Stricker, he added, “I knew it would be great because Jimmy and Steve have very similar personalities.” Assuming we all agree that eight wins and nearly $11 million in prize money qualify as great numbers, then Price is correct – Stricker and Johnson jelled splendidly. But at 48, Stricker did as Price had done, telling Johnson that it would be sensible to work for a younger player. Enter Thomas, who was 22 when he hired Johnson in June of ’15. The duo have been nothing short of meteoric – a PGA Championship and PLAYERS Championship among 14 wins, two different stints at No. 1 in the world, and the 2017 FedExCup title. When it was suggested that the ’17 PGA win at Quail Hollow must be the highlight, being the only major, Johnson paused. “I’d call it an exclamation point,” he said, “because (if it hadn’t have happened), I was going to be OK with everything. It’s been a wonderful ride and I’ve been very, very fortunate to work for such great players.”

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Nearly a decade ago, Lanto Griffin thought seriously about giving up the game of golf. With few positives to hang his hat on, a different career was becoming more enticing. After turning professional in 2010, he would endure years of losing money and gaining credit card debt. In his first 10 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2017, he earned a collective total of less than $5,000. "I thought about quitting," Griffin remembers thinking. What overtook his skepticism, though, was a stubborn perseverance to succeed. Returning to this week's Vivint Houston Open as the defending champion, his determination clearly paid off. And, it has paid off in more ways - and to more people - than he ever could have imagined. In the same first few years Griffin was trying to find his place in the world, a then-12-year-old boy from Spring, Texas, was fighting the odds just to keep his place in the world. Before his 13th birthday, Travis Arnold was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a fast-growing cancer of white blood cells. Following two failed stem cell transplants from matching donors, on April 25, 2014, Arnold underwent a haploidentical stem cell transplant, which is a half match as opposed to a perfect or near-perfect match. The donor was Arnold's father. As fate would have it, the third time was the charm. Arnold would recover, go on to become a standout high school golfer and graduate in May 2017 in the top 2 percent of his class. Cancer free, he now attends the University of Texas in Austin. "Travis is such a good kid, and for him to come down with cancer at the age of 12, well, you can only imagine," Griffin said. "With his amazing attitude and positivity, he seems more like a veteran adult. He's just really mature for being a college kid." Arnold was diagnosed at the age of 12. Griffin was virtually the same age when he lost his father to the same disease. "I've been through it on the other side with my dad, losing a parent and best friend," Griffin said. "At that age, I just don't know that there's anything worse that can happen to you than losing a parent or loved one. I'm sure his parents felt similar to how I felt in terms of being scared and not knowing what was going to happen. Thank God he's healthy now and thriving at the University of Texas." One of the results of Griffin's win in Houston last season were 500 FedExCup points, which translated to a big step to the FedExCup Playoffs and season-ending TOUR Championship. Griffin did, in fact, make it to East Lake for the TOUR Championship, finishing T18. More significant than his spot in the elite 30-man field that week, though, was the opportunity to learn of Arnold's story and meet him for the first time, albeit virtually through a computer. Introduced by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and fellow cancer survivor Mark Rolfing, Griffin and Arnold connected immediately on their love for golf, as well as the devastating impact cancer left on their families. "First, having MD Anderson put in as much time and research into such a terrible disease to try and make lives better and healthy is really amazing," Griffin said. "But, seeing his strength and the manner in which Travis has dealt with it is something I just cannot imagine. Cancer is a deadly disease and is going to do what it wants to do. It creates the loneliest, most helpless feeling in the world." Griffin was so moved by the pediatric cancer survivor's determination and resolve that a socially distant, in-person meeting at Arnold's home was arranged by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for Monday of this week. Arnold, though, was not privy to the meeting. It was to be a surprise. "I thought I was going to be sitting down with Mark Rolfing, who works with MD Anderson. That alone is a cool opportunity," Arnold, now 21, said. "In my mind, we were going to talk about the relationship of MD Anderson with the Houston Open." In addition to golf, the two spoke at length about their respective survivorship anniversaries and life as a cancer survivor. "Going through something like that at a young age will really give you a unique perspective on life," Griffin said. "On top of that, there are things in the world right now like COVID and the election. But, when you meet someone like Travis, who has been through what he has been through, it just really opens your eyes. There is more to life than golf and elections. It's just a good perspective." In addition to speaking to tournament officials about having Travis play in next year's Vivint Houston Open pro-am with him, Griffin capitalized on a relationship with Dormie Network to treat Travis and his family to a complimentary golf vacation at Briggs Ranch in San Antonio, home of a Korn Ferry Tour event. "The look on the faces of he and his mom, Gina, when they got that news was just so cool," Griffin said. "They're just so excited about that. It was just really cool looking at someone who has been through hell for years and years to have that kind of excitement on his face." As a teenager, one of Griffin's best friends was diagnosed with bone cancer. He remembers being there for him as he went through it all. The friend was a Make-A-Wish Foundation recipient and chose a new set of new golf clubs. "That changed his whole outlook and perspective," Griffin said. "So, when you can do anything to lift someone's spirit up, you just never know how much it can mean to them or even change a person's mentality." "Perseverance is extremely important in all aspects of life. Whether you're in school or business or athletics, things can get to where it feels really easy to give up. It takes a lot of gut and strength to keep pushing through. It's no different with Travis. He could have easily just rolled over and given up. But he never did. I can't ever imagine going through chemotherapy, radiation and surgery at any time, let alone when I was 12. For him to persevere like that, beat cancer and now be healthy and in college is incredible." "It felt to me like we just hit it off immediately," Arnold said. "Given what happened to his father when he was my age and when I found out about my cancer, in a weird kind of way, gave me the feeling of an instant connection." During the 2019-20 PGA TOUR Season, Griffin won a combined $200,000 from the RSM Birdies Fore Love program - $50,000 for being the weekly winner with the most birdies (or better) at the Vivint Houston Open, and $150,000 for a second-place finish in the program overall last fall. Griffin used the funds to start the Lanto Griffin Foundation to help aspiring athletes achieve their goals and dreams. He has since also donated $25,000 to the Astros Golf Foundation - $5,000 to Project Joy and Hope, a Vivint Houston Open beneficiary, and $20,000 this week to the Astros Golf Foundation itself. Because Griffin powered on, now others in need of help can, too. "The fight Travis won puts what I went through into perspective, too, in terms of never giving up," Griffin said. "I know what it's like to get frustrated and want to quit, give up on your dreams. But, when you're literally fighting for your life, like Travis did, it's a completely different battle.” "I can sympathize and understand to a degree, having witnessed my father going through it. Even though things turned out differently with my dad than it did for Travis, perseverance is always a very powerful thing. I tell that to kids all the time. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. ... It is possible beat cancer, and Travis is a perfect example of someone who did just that without ever giving up."

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Phil Mickelson shot a 70 on Saturday and was at 7-under 209 for the tournament as he heads into Sunday looking for his sixth career major.

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