Hear The Man Out Front on this one. Yes, Matthew Wolff practically cried on the shoulder of caddie Steve Lohmeyer after sinking an eagle putt to win the 3M Open and you were thinking, what happened to The Forecaddie report saying a famous caddie was hired to carry Wolff’s golf club luggage? Seems J.P. Fitzgerald was not a good fit and got the pink slip after just one week when Wolff posted a lackluster T-80 at the Travelers. On the bag instead was a former assistant pro-turned looper, Lohmeyer. Wolff credited the former Kent State golfer for keeping him loose by talking NBA free agency, among other things. Now, before anyone makes too big of a deal about Fitzgerald’s short stint and the lost dollar signs he must be seeing in his dreams, the pairing seemed odd the moment it began. Matthew Wolff high-fives his caddie Steve Lohmeyer after sinking an eagle putt at the 18th hole to win 3M Championship. (Photo: Bruce Kluckhohn/USA TODAY Sports) It was an arranged marriage, undoubtedly put together with sound intentions as the 20-year-old Wolff finished up his college season and his team was tasked with finding an experienced bagman to guide him on the PGA Tour. Fitzgerald’s long run with Rory McIlroy made him the top name on the caddie free agent market, but it just didn’t work for Wolff and the lad made the tough decision to go another direction with only a few chances left to possibly secure a PGA Tour card. So while Fitzgerald looks for his next bag since breaking up with McIlroy two years ago, Wolff appears to have found a kindred spirit and experienced caddy in Lohmeyer. And The Forecaddie had it right the first time, he just didn’t think this marriage would end so quickly. “I’m still speechless,” Lohmeyer said Wednesday night when I reached him by phone in Moline, Ill., where he is caddying for Wolff this week in the John Deere Classic. “I’m so proud of Matthew, the way he handled himself. It was fantastic. It was very surreal for me.” While Wolff earned a two-year exemption to PGA Tour events and an invitation to major tournaments, including the 2020 Masters, Lohmeyer not only will receive a nice check (10 percent is common) from Wolff’s $1,152,000 prize money, but he received a huge mental boost at a time when he needed one. Lohmeyer has been without a regular job since parting ways with golfer Scott Stallings. “It hasn’t been the best run for me,” he said. “I was in a tough spot. You wonder if you’re doing a good job. Everything around me I was very content with, but I felt strongly about (not) working with a team. I believe in myself as a caddie, but I was seriously thinking about giving up caddying and going back to Scottsdale (Ariz.).” Everything changed when Lohmeyer got the offer to carry Wolff’s bag. He knew a lot about Wolff and his ability because he had stayed in touch with Donnie Darr, who had recruited Lohmeyer for Kent State 19 years ago and coached him for three years. Darr, who was head coach at Ohio State from 2009-15, is now an assistant for coach Alan Bratton at Oklahoma State. Lohmeyer thought he might get the caddying assignment with Wolff when he joined the tour, but some of Wolff’s handlers chose instead to hire veteran caddie J.P. Fizgerald, who previously worked for Rory McIlroy. Lohmeyer met Wolff at the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Tournament in February when he tied for 50th. “We talked there and kept in touch,” Lohmeyer said. They met again when Wolff was in Phoenix the week of the Masters and in Detroit on June 28 after Wolff missed the cut in the Rocket Mortgage Classic. “Then everything aligned at the right time,” Lohmeyer said. The victory was his second. He caddied for Brendon Todd when Todd won the Byron Nelson Classic in 2014. Lohmeyer’s girlfriend, Jenna Ellrich, and college roommate Phil Bojc were there for this one. “I started to give Jenna a big hug and I started crying,” he said. Chip Shots • Austin Greaser of Vandalia will be in the field for the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship which begins Monday (July 15) at The Inverness Club in Toledo. Greaser tees off at 2:26 p.m. • Qualifying rounds for the U.S. Amateur championship will be held Monday (July 15) at Coldstream Country Club and Tuesday (July 16) at Camargo Country Club. Both clubs are in Cincinnati. The U.S. Amateur is Aug. 12-18 at Pinehurst Resort & Golf Club in North Carolina. The 96th Women’s State Amateur Invitational and third Mid-Amateur Invitational will be held next week at Piqua Country Club. There will be 64 players in the Open Division and 24 in the Mid-Amateur division for those 30 years old by July 22.
Who carries the young American's bag at the moment? Take a look here. Who Is Matthew Wolff’s Caddie? Matthew Wolff has risen up the golf ranks with meteoric speed and one possible reason for this is the team he has around him. One crucial part of this is his caddie but who exactly is he? Let’s take a look. Matthew Wolff’s caddie right now is Nick Heinen, who has played on the Korn Ferry Tour 10 times in 2018 and 2019. He is yet to make a cut. Taking a look at his Korn Ferry stats, distance has never been a problem for him, as in 2018 he averaged 340.9 yards and in 2019 he averaged 315! Related: Matthew Wolff What’s In The Bag? Heinen played on the same collegiate team as Wolff at Oklahoma State University. Another two names many in the world of professional golf world would have heard of are Viktor Hovland and Kristoffer Ventura, two players who were also on the same college team. Related: 8 Things You Didn’t Know About Matthew Wolff Heinen was actually born in Oklahoma too back in 1996 and whilst his brother Alec went off to play golf at Wichita State University in Kansas, Nick decided to stay closer to home. Some of his other hobbies outside of golf include playing basketball and fishing.
Wolff working with Lohmeyer on the way to victory at the 2019 3M Open (Getty Images) Interestingly for Wolff’s sole PGA Tour win at the 2019 3M Open, he had Steve Lohmeyer on the bag but this has changed of late. We are yet to confirm whether the partnership has ended completely or Heinen is a temporary replacement. Wolff has also worked with Rory McIlroy‘s former caddie, J.P. Fitzgerald in the past as well. For all the latest golf news, check the Golf Monthly website and follow our social media channels @golfmonthlymagazine on Facebook and @golfmonthly on Twitter and Instagram This article Who Is Matthew Wolff’s Caddie? appeared first on Golf Monthly.
Matthew Wolff's first PGA Tour win came with a two-year exemption, the kind of job security all tour pros covet. But there was another person even happier with his suddenly bright employment situation: his caddie. More specifically, his new caddie.
Wolff—who began his pro career last month with Rory McIlroy's former caddie, J.P. Fitzgerald, on the bag—won the 3M Open in his first week working with Steve Lohmeyer, a former college golfer at Kent State. And it turns out, the timing gets even better.
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"It was very neat for both of us," Lohmeyer said in a video posted on the Caddie Network on Tuesday night. "Obviously, a lot of emotions for Matt becoming a full member, getting his first win in his third professional start. Me, him saving me. I was just debating whether I was going to stay in caddieing, go back to Scottsdale and get a real job. And he called me Friday, and the rest is history. I'm just so proud to be part of the team."
Wolff made it clear throughout the week that it was a team effort, crediting Lohmeyer for keeping him loose by talking about NBA free agency, among other things. The two were certainly in sync during Wolff's winning eagle on the 72nd hole.
Lohmeyer describes Wolff's second shot on the par-5 18th on Sunday as "a little cut 5-iron from about 225," and says he "got out of the way" on the putt because Wolff had a great read on it. Good call.
He also addressed Wolff turning away and starting to celebrate before the eagle putt dropped.
"The putt hadn't even gone in, and I saw Matthew moving," Lohmeyer said, "and I said, 'What the hell is this kid doing?' Obviously he knew it was going in, and the celebration after was very cool."
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Lohmeyer, who was an assistant pro before becoming a caddie, explained he and Wolff "have a little bit of a backstory" through Donnie Darr, an Oklahoma State assistant coach for Wolff who was also an assistant coach for Lohmeyer at Kent State. Lohmeyer says he also knows Cowboys head coach Alan Bratton from his days as the college rep for PING when Lohmeyer was in school.
"It makes me feel very old, but also very lucky," says Lohmeyer, who will try to make it a perfect two-for-two with Wolff at this week's John Deere Classic.
Here's the full video:
"Congratulations, Matthew," Lohmeyer says in closing. "Can't wait to take the journey together with you, bud."
And we can't wait to watch.
PODCAST: Our chat with Matthew Wolff's swing coach, George Gankas
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