Michelle Wie fires her caddie, Greg Johnston

Yep... since it couldn't have been MW's fault, it must have been the caddie's. The least the Wie's could have done was notify the caddie personally. Caddies come and go in golf so that's no surprise... it's the way he was let go that bothers me.

Good decision. I didn't like to critisise him while he was her caddie, but he made a number of mistakes and she deserves better.

*****
Comment from: Johnny N. [Visitor]
I didn't like to critisise (Johnson) while he was (Wie's) caddie
*****

Why?

-George

Classic! Of course, it's the caddie's fault!

I see JR is off the course. I still think you are male chauvinist golfer who is jealous of Michelle and can't stand the fact that she would beat you anytime if you were to play her. As to the caddy, Johnston, I say it is not all his fault but I can also ask when it comes to some of the mistakes that have been made, I can't remember Michelle blaming him for anything. I also can't remember him owning up to admitting he should have said something which indicates he didn't catch the infraction either. BTW who has the most experence on the tour and therefore should be more aware of an infraction during the heat of tournament. I also don't keep up with all the little things, but why is he no longer Jill Inkster's caddy, someone let me know.

HUGE HUGE MISTAKE!! Greg is the best caddie MW has had both in course management, and not getting in her way considering she is just a child.... she'll regret it down the road. The fact is MW is mentally weak in golf, and she is not up to the level of the hype. No caddie can make her improve her short game, and putting. Alex must be cracking up on this one...

Letting Johnston go was an astute decision on many levels. Wm Morris and the Wie's aren't about to settle for anything less than a top-notch effort from a highly-paid pro caddie. Johnston "hung his player out to dry" at the Samsung and at the Weetabix. I'm glad they made the move a soon as they did. I predicted that he would not be on the bag in '07. Good swift decision.

ghet rheel,
kudos to you for predicting Johnston's future as caddie for Michelle...you called it right!

I think the only person being naive in this matter is Johnston, who should have seen that the Wie-machine would be looking for a scapegoat to deflect any criticism of their meal ticket. Was it his fault that she clipped the moss on her backswing? No. Was it partially his responsibility to notice the potential and point it out? Yes. Was it his fault that she didn't know the rule? No. As someone pointed out, he caddied for Juli Inkster who is a pro's pro and probably has actually read the Rules of Golf.

If it wasn't already, this is turning into a first-rate soap opera.

I'm sure Wie's parents and agent were quick to blame Mr. Johnston for Michelle's own stubborn refusals to listen to her caddie on several occasions, using the wrong club at Kraft Nabisco. It's unfortunate that Michelle Wie and her parents did not even bother to speak to Mr. Johnston directly. Mr. Wie has been the one who has insisted that his daughter needed to learn to read her own putts and when she fails so frequently that it was noticeable when Mr. Johnston helped her. At the Women's British Open, according to a UK newspaper, Wie's caddie did point out to her that hitting the moss would result an infraction, but apparently, Wie ignored it. It is wrong that the Wies didn't talk to Johnston in person because he deserves some respect and thanks. I'm sure he must have regretted deeply for having left Julie Inskter for Michelle Wie.

Pity for the next caddie because it would not be an easy task to caddie for Michelle Wie and have Mr. Wie and others as micromanagers.

The only explanation I can think of is MW was getting some vibes from Greg (ie: looking down those legs, and miniskirts). Hey, I would have that same problem too if I were the caddy. Other than that.. he's by far the best caddie she's had. And you don't fire a guy like that! That is just not professional. You communicate with them, ahead of time, and not through some bs PR machine. They may have gotten rid of the caddy, but they lost a reliable person that could have been counted as ally and friend. Totally unprofessional on part of the Wie Team.

Michelle never blamed Johnston in all the countless questions about her penalty (either one). She never mentioned his name once. She always talked about how she thought she was doing what she was right. I don't see how he is being made the scapegoat for the penalty when she took full responsibility for knowing the rule incorrectly.

If they blamed him privately, we'll never know. All we do know is that they felt Michelle needed a change, so they made it.

HC2, You got to be kidding. The problem with your explanation is that there are not many good gay or women caddies out there.

I dont' think you can call the termination like that unprofessional. That is how 'big business' terminates their employee. The boss never tells the employee that he is fired. A security guard escorts him out of the buliding. Don't kid yourself. You are not a friend of your boss at work. They can fire you at any time and that is just the way it is nowadays.

I am not saying it is the right thing to do, but it is an acceptable practice and you can't call it 'unprofessional'. Unprofessional conduct would be the likes of personal insult, name calling, harrassment etc.

I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE WAY JOHNSTON WAS FIRED. THE WIE FAMILY SHOULD HAVE HAD THE CLASS TO SPEAK WITH JOHNSTON AND AT LEAST GIVE HIM AN EXPLANATION OF WHY HE WAS BEING FIRED. MICHELLE DOES NOT HAVE MANY FRIENDS IN THE LPGA AND NO FRIEND IN THE PGA. I THINK THERE IS GOING TO BE A BACKLASH AGAINST MICHELLE OVER THIS DECISION (RIGHT OR WRONG) IN THE COMING WEEKS. MICHELLE HAS ALWAYS STATED THAT SHE DOESN'T CARE WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT HER. FROM MY OBSERVATION DURING HER LAST FOUR TOURNAMENTS, I MUST DISAGREE WITH HER STATEMENT. SHE WILL BE PLAYING AGAINST THE MEN IN SEPTEMBER AND WHO WILL BE HER CADDIE...HER FATHER?

Her next caddie may not work out either. If the Wie team have to fire a few more caddies to find Michelle's "Steve Williams" then that is the cost of excellence. I hope, in considering qualifications for an ideal caddie, that the Wie family will reach out to some of the golf legends who have publicly supported her - people like Johnny Miller, Laura Davies, Greg Norman. If such help is available to the Wie's, I hope they take full advantage of the wealth of information that they could acquire.

STEPHEN,
GOOD POST!!

Comment from: Stephen [Visitor]

At the Women's British Open, according to a UK newspaper, Wie's caddie did point out to her that hitting the moss would result an infraction, but apparently, Wie ignored it.

Lets see a link to this article, please.

Stephan

"according to a UK newspaper, Wie's caddie did point out to her that hitting the moss would result an infraction, but apparently, Wie ignored it."

What UK newspaper reported that Johnston warned Wie about the moss?

I don't see any value in the Wie's explaining anything to Johnston. He wasn't a lifelong employee. If I were BJ my only comment to Johnston would be, "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out."

Johnston was her caddie for all of 10 months... I've got horseradish in my refridgerator that's been around longer than that.

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/golf/story/0,,1838234,00.html

He told her she couldn't pick it up, she took practice swings like she knew she couldn't hit it according to this article. Since they were there probably truth to that.

Comment from: Golfer for Life [Visitor]
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/golf/story/0,,1838234,00.html

If thats they way it happened, then Greg is well out of that mess. He can now go and caddie for the big girls and boys.

It's a bit surprising regarding the Wie's lack of civility in handling the matter of sacking their daughter's caddie.

Incidentally, Tiger Woods only has two caddies throughout his entire 10 years, one of them is the current caddie, Stevie Williams. Their work relationship turned into friendship. I wouldn't venture that Ms. Wie will enjoy such loyalty even at any price, what with her parents, minder, and agent's continually absolving her from responsibilities. She is indeed a talented golfer, but has ways to go in character development.


http://observer.guardian.co.uk/sport/story/0,,1838454,00.html

JOE COOL

Who will be her caddy in September?

No not BJ--but mayube Michael Bamberger.

The article says that Johnston told her she couldn't pick up the moss (ahem, sort of like how Annika wasn't supposed to pick up those divots...), but doesn't clarify further. But unlike what was otherwise implied, it's not as if Johnston's advice was directly ignored. His advice just left room for Michelle's incorrect belief to stand.

I can already see this issue getting blown out of proportion...the media/golf world just can't get enough of creating drama.

Stephan, your comment:
"...according to a UK newspaper, Wie's caddie did point out to her that hitting the moss would result an infraction, but apparently, Wie ignored it."

Quote from Guardian newspaper:
"it emerged yesterday that caddie Greg Johnston had told Wie that she could not remove the moss by picking it up, so why she thought she could remove it by sweeping it away with her club in the course of playing a shot is mystifying."

Michelle's interpretation was that she could touch or move such an obstruction during the course of her backswing as she could "through the green" if the same moss (or clump of grass, etc.) were behind the ball. Nothing mystifying about it. She had the rule wrong. It had nothing to do with picking it up. It was touching it on the backswing.

As to Michelle getting some backlash over the firing of Johnston... She'd get backlash if she cured AIDS and eliminated the National Debt. I'd imagine that she is fast realizing that she has family first and foremost... some loyal friends, a distant second... her business associates are a solid third. Fan adulation, I'm sure, has lost its glitter by now. Criticism from non-supporters should be tossed out with the garbage.

As to Johnston going to greener pastures - good luck. I wouldn't wan't to rely on him to "watch my back".

It may be a coincidence, but when a 48 year old golfer(Juli Inkster) shows dramatic improvement after sacking you as her caddy--that does not look really good on your resume.

Michelle's best bet (in the short run) may be to have BJ as her primary caddie and have other caddies work a tourney or two here and there. This would take the pressure off any need to fill the position in haste. Or maybe a semi-retired looper could step in for a while to serve the same purpose.

The link mentioned that Johnston won 4 Majors while he was with Inkster. I always thought it was the player who won. It was also mentioned that Greg did some spot work for Wie while he was still Inkster's caddy before coming on full time at the Samsung.

What wasn't mentioned is that Inkster threw a fit over not being asked and fired Johnston. I do not believe the Wies intended to hire Johnston full time--but did so after he was fired by Inkster. According to the article, the Wie spokesperson said very nice things about Johnston--but what Johnston said about the Wies really wasn't so nice. We can understand that he was upset, but I don't think lashing out at they way a former employer terminates the relationship is the best way to market yourself to future employers.

Johnston did nothing wrong and was simply the fall guy for Michelle's rules infractions and poor showing at the Open. I like Michelle and think she is a wonderful talent, but there is no way for her marketing machine to put a positive spin on this one, the manner in which he was let go and the timing of it give her and her team a black eye. Why create drama after a summer in which you had 7 top 5's in 8 tournaments?

TW... just as clueless as ever I see....

Still Michelle Wie stories? My 2 cents worth. Michelle and Greg both share the blame for the rules infractions. Very difficult to caddy for a teenager, as she herself doesn't know what type of caddy she needs/feels comfortable with. She will probably go through more caddies till she finds a good fit. She will be better served with someone who has worked on both the LPGA and the PGA: i.e. someone with more PGA experience.

Watch the Wie warriors turn on the caddy--It's almost comical, he was fine while she was playing well, now she has a one bad tournament and the guy is an anchor around her neck. Not only is he resposible for her failure to win and her rules infractions, but according to Jim his absence is the reason Julie Inkster is playing better. Another clown called Ghet Rheel is claiming he was not giving his best effort and that he "hung her out to dry". People please, get out of attack mode. Greg Johnston is a fine caddy one whose partnership with Michelle produced some historic results, let's let Michelle shoulder some of the blame and move on.

benvenuto

Johnstons firing was predicted and discussed a number of times on these blogs over the last couple weeks. Pay attention, you might learn something. Wie and Johnston were a poor match, and while I wish him well, Wie will be far better off with a gentler hand on the reins.

I wondered about the sense of having Michelle's swing coach travel with her to tournaments but not be her caddy. If David Leadbetter is going to make the commitment to travel to tournaments with Wie, he might as well be her caddy. I'm sure David Leadbetter would rather have some else be her caddy--but he may have a big enough stake in her success to be willing to take over the job.

Leadbetter is going to just correct her swings when he needs to give her the yardage. Bad idea.
There are tons of caddies out there. Get the guy from Caddyshack

I wonder if Coffee Joe could be spirited away to the Wie camp? He is one hell of a caddy and knows the LPGA courses like the back of his weathered hand.

Johnson is loud and abrasive on the course making Michelle nervous. They would barely walk together down the fairway or to the next tee. It was not a great relationship from the start and doomed for failure from the Samsung on.

Ghet SurRheel, Since you are the Number One conspiracy theorist on this site, maybe you can give the uninitiated like benvenuto some of your insight. Do you think that it is possible that Greg Johnston may have been a mole? Do you think that Director Herb Krickstein of Operation Astroturf might have had Greg planted under deep cover to sabotage the Wie machine? At this morning's meeting at the agency, anonymois sources learned that Lord Krickstein was furious that Greg had been outed. Look for more heads will roll as a result of this breach of security.

This is much ado about nothing. Caddies come and go on both tours. Eventually your high profile players settle into a long partnership with a caddy, ie Annika and her caddy for 7 years now, Tiger-Steve, Phil- Bones, Ernie -Ricky just to name a few. Where they become not only a caddy, but trusted friend and ally. Michelle will find that someday too, probably not until she becomes a full time player, so i suspect you will see her with a few caddies until then. What she doesn't need is BJ back on her bag. The one interview question I saw her asked about that she seems glad and relieved he is outside the ropes. I doubt Greg was let go over a rules infraction either, solely. That didn't cost her the tournament. She was done in by a poor ball striking week which can happen to the best of players. No one on this blog could possibly know the whole story of how they were meshing as a team. The only thing I disagree with is that Michelle or BJ should have been the one to tell him. Not an agent at the airport. Other than that it is no big deal. Just what all the job of a caddy entails can be a gray area. They are there to give spot on yardage to the greens, help with course management, reinforce belief on the club selection and the shot to be played. Rarely does arguing with the pro over club selection meet with success. Think back to a prior Masters when Stevie talked Tiger into driver, disaster ensued and any chance at the title. They didn't speak for a couple of hours after that. Or more recently Geoff Ogilvy at this years US Open. Him and his caddy arguing over the choice of club on a layup. The caddy won out, a poor shot followed along with a bogey. Some tense moments on the next few holes for those two. Many people say Bones should have broke Phils driver at 18 ala Romeo on Tin Cup. If he had talked Phil out of driver and a poorly hit 3 wood or 2 iron followed instead, it would have become the tournament Bones blew rather than Phil self destructed on. Too often the announcers and media want to lay blame on a caddy for club selection, but never give them credit for putting their pro on the right iron and where to hit the green to catch the slope to funnel the ball closer to the hole. The pro should have final say because they are the ones who have to execute the shot. The caddy has to balance the fine line of helping with the things they should and sometimes staying out of the pros way and head. Michelle will eventually find a good match she is comfortable with.

No one outside of Michelle's management team knows why Johnston was fired by the Wm. Morris agent. It may have been a contractual requirement, it may have been a personal choice, it may have been an intentional sleight. Its their business.

Woods used a number of different caddies in his teen years. He was about 23 when he settled on Williams. That gives Michelle six or seven years to stay on the learning curve set by Woods.

I agree with one-putt, that Johnston's style is loud and abrasive - some players don't mind that style and some don't do well with that style. Michelle did not do well with it, so onward we go. How he got fired? Who cares? They owed him nothing. If he were a long-time loyal employee it might have been different. He carried her bag for about what, eight or nine events? See ya Greggers. Hope you enjoyed the big paychecks.

Comment from: Booger [Visitor]
Classic! Of course, it's the caddie's fault!
08/08/06 @ 18:27

Really? And where did you read anything from Michelle Wie that it was her caddies fault?

Just because you and a few reporters have put a spin on this story, doesn't mean it is true.

But then you are the one that has trouble with history and accounting, right Booger?

Stay tuned because this is just the beginning. The saga of MW will continue until she can meet the expectations for her to be the Tiger Woods of the LPGA. Unless she can match what Tiger has done on the men's tour AND command the respect of other players and the media like Tiger, she's destined to be nothing but fodder for the golf tabloids, so to speak. Unfortunately, the LPGA already has a Tiger, and her name is Anika.

Comment from: putt4par [Visitor]
Comment from: Booger [Visitor]
Classic! Of course, it's the caddie's fault!
08/08/06 @ 18:27

Really? And where did you read anything from Michelle Wie that it was her caddies fault?

Just because you and a few reporters have put a spin on this story, doesn't mean it is true.

But then you are the one that has trouble with history and accounting, right Booger?


You are a funny, funny little thing, you know that?

steve root, Where have you been? If you had read the blogs submitted by the Wie Warriors, you would already know that Bubbles has met and surpassed anything that Tiger had done to this point as far as age goes. Oh sure, Woods won a few amateur titles, but so what? How many times did he have to be carried off the course on a stretcher? How many times did he make news by firing his caddie? Has Tiger ever worn long, dangling earrings? A mini-skirt? Wrap-around shades? No! He prefers to let his play speak for him. How long can his wins against amateur boys be expected to prop up his reputation?

very enjoyable and informative web blog. your readers are very astute. This is a business and she is a marketing machine. but at 17 class and maturity look like quite a few years away. I think BJ stands for big joke because by micromanaging his daughter, he is stifling her creativity. look at how earl woods treated tiger. bj is no earl woods.

Wonder if there is a chance MW could progress into the Kornukova of golf? A person talented in their sport but mentally and emotionally on a slide into mediocrity. Her path to golf excellence has many road blocks, Sorenstam, Webb, Kim and a number of up and coming players who seem not to be intimidated by her great swing and power.

"Comment from: T2Green [Visitor]
Wonder if there is a chance MW could progress into the Kornukova of golf? A person talented in their sport but mentally and emotionally on a slide into mediocrity. Her path to golf excellence has many road blocks, Sorenstam, Webb, Kim and a number of up and coming players who seem not to be intimidated by her great swing and power."

I wouldn't call them "Roadblocks" T2G, would call them speed bumps on the road of progress.

Any other golfer/athlete would be getting lambasted for simply not winning. But a 6-foot korean teenager is a better sideshow attraction. Amazing to see people wasting so much time trying to defend her when the proof will be in the winning. You can talk until you are blue in your face about the power of her swings, her potential...blah, blah, blah. Other golfers with great ability have won and they didn't need a bunch of people rushing to their defense. When she starts winning, then I'll start believing in her ability.

Very obvious that this so called "Tiger Woods" of female golf is anything but and things just ain't going to plan. The Wie camp seem to be panicking and looking for a scapegoat. Personally I don't think she has the mental fortitude to be as big a sensation as many seem to have expected. It just does not matter how many David Leadbetter's, Butch Harmons etc
you have in tow - when it comes to on the course savvy and mental toughness she is clearly lacking. Oh, but she is still young I can hear some saying and this will come over time. Well, maybe but based on what I have seen she has blown a few tournaments based on some poor course management, poor putting and poor shotmaking when the pressure was on. Often this type of characteristic in a players game can be ever present and I firmly believe that Mr. Wie and Nike have to be alarmed. I bet they would never have expected to wait this long since turning pro for what is now becoming the elusive first win. Maybe it's time to get a new advisor Michelle and sit Daddy down - someone who will tell you that 1) it's you swinging the clubs not the caddy, and 2) making the cut in a mens event is a distraction from what is the primary objective - what are you trying to prove?

"Comment from: Shar [Visitor]
Any other golfer/athlete would be getting lambasted for simply not winning. But a 6-foot korean teenager is a better sideshow attraction. Amazing to see people wasting so much time trying to defend her when the proof will be in the winning. You can talk until you are blue in your face about the power of her swings, her potential...blah, blah, blah. Other golfers with great ability have won and they didn't need a bunch of people rushing to their defense. When she starts winning, then I'll start believing in her ability."

Thanks for joining the forum Morgan.

For all you wanna be golfer/caddy experts, read the book by Alan Shipnuck (SI) entitled "Bud, Sweat and Tees." It chronicles Rich Beem's early career and the trials/tribulations of his briefly successful PGA tour run. It also focuses indepth on the caddy/golfer relationship between Rich and (can't think of his name as the book is on loan) his caddy. Caddies are a revolving door on the PGA tour...4 to a hotel room, no courtesy cars and in most cases, little courtesy. Wie will continue to mature and change and caddies will come and go...no one knows who she will be in 3-5 years, when most pro golfers actually graduate to the PGA/LPGA tour. If she has a solid caddy by then, I'd be surprised. My god, she doesn't even drive yet...I impressed she doesn't have temper tantrums still.

I agree, Johnson was let go brashly. I predict the biggest challenge in her future to be her father. We'll never hear it, but there'll be a time when he steps out of the way and she comes into her own. BJ needs to focus on transportation engineering, not the professional golf world...we all know he couldn't make a 3' either.

Besides, she is traveling all over and is extremely likely to not make a cut at the upcoming tourneys (Nationwide, PGA and Euro right?)...why would anyone wanna carry a heavy ass bag for $2,000/week when the plane ticket is probably half of that?!

Greg Johnston was disappointed someone named Wie didn't call? Did Johnston really expect a 16 year old to call him? Why would Michelle Wie's mother call Johnston? Why would Michelle Wie's father call Johnston? The way Johnston reacted, you'd thought he lived with the Wie family, rather than see them 8 times a year for work.

By the way, I do believe it's Michelle's fault, no doubt about it. But in a situation of TWO mistakes in 8 events, you have to realize the combination isn't working and change it. You can't change the golfer, the only choice is.....change the caddie.

Live by the sword die by the sword. Johnston left Julie for a younger, media centric player. So lets recap, he leaves a 12 year relationship for a 10 month one. Leaves the number 6 money winner for the 14th (if she was in the LPGA). Leaves one of the best people I know for a brat that needs an attitude adjustment. Too bad, sooooo sad.

Someone needs to change Michelle Wie's diaper.