Golf: Caddie split, but Masters ahead

Danny Lee and his former caddie Kurt Kowaluk talk prior to the start of The Presidents Cup last October. Photo / Getty Images

While professional golfer Danny Lee has a tough task ahead of him this week at the Masters, following news he's split with long-term caddie Kurt Kowaluk, he has all his old friends and club members rooting for him back home in Rotorua.

Lee, 25, is set to tee it up at the biggest tournament in golf, the Masters, on Friday morning. He is the first Kiwi to make the field at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia since Michael Campbell back in 2010. Lee's team revealed the news of a split between player and caddie at Augusta National yesterday. They said they'd kept it quiet over the last three weeks to try and let Lee concentrate on getting his game ready for the Masters.

The full details of the split remained under wraps, with Lee's coach Drew Streckel saying it's a "long story" which boiled down to player and caddie "no longer seeing eye-to-eye".

Michael Hartford, a long-standing caddy for injured PGA Tour veteran Pat Perez, has stepped in to caddie for Lee at the Masters. Despite the late change to his core team, Lee's old teammate from Rotorua, Mark Smith, said Lee's game should suit Augusta. Smith captained Lee when he represented the Bay of Plenty and Springfield Golf Club as a teenager.

Mark Smith.

"He is pretty straight off the tee and has a really good short game around the green, which you need around Augusta," Smith said.

Smith said lots of people at Springfield Golf Club had been passing on their best wishes to Lee via Facebook.

"He is a hard man to get hold of but he will be getting a huge amount of support through Facebook, which he keeps a pretty close eye on."

Smith said following Lee's highly successful season last year, which saw him break into the world's top 50 and debut at the Presidents Cup, he could well manage a top-10 finish this weekend.

"You never say never in sport, he won a tournament on tour last year so there is no reason he can't do it again... but I would expect him to be going for a top 10 finish this week."

Springfield Golf Club president Brent Frew, who also played alongside Lee when he was younger, said many club members would most likely get together at the club house over the weekend to watch Lee's progress on TV.

He said he had flicked Lee a message of support on behalf of the club this week. "We just wish him good luck and we said enjoy it and don't get overawed by the four days, and do your best, and let him know the whole club is behind him."

Lee has played at the Masters once before as an amateur in 2009 where he missed the cut. He turned professional after that.

Fact file:

* Danny Lee, 25

* World ranking: 38th

* Number of appearances at majors: 4

* Best finish at a major: T43rd at the PGA Championship (2015)