January 24, 2025

During the June U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club, I met again with Paul Heselden, a longtime LPGA caddie.

We first met at the 2023 ShopRite when he caddied for Tour rookie Manon DeRoey of Belgium. Gemma Dryburgh of Scotland, his regular “bag” at the time, was not participating.

Heselden also worked with DeRoey at the next event, where she finished high up on the leaderboard. Unfortunately, that was her high-water mark for her rookie year. DeRoey returned to the Ladies European Tour and made no effort to return to the LPGA for the 2024 season.

Heselden’s time with Dryburgh also came to an end, and he was not working at Lancaster. “I start next week with Chanattee Wannasaen. We’re going to the ShopRite and the Meijer [LPGA Classic for Simply Give].

“I’m here to watch her, see how she plays, learn a bit for next week, and see how we go,” he said.

Heselden was philosophical about Dryburgh. “We still have a relationship. It was a bit sad that we had to finish but unfortunately things happen in life, but I wish her the best. We had a great run together. Five years is a long time in caddie years. Had a victory, did the Solheim Cup, so good memories.”

He kept working. “When I finished with Gemma, I had a week with Mo Jutanugarn, which was a lot of fun. Then I had a week with I. K. Kim, also a lot of fun. Both [were] extremely professional and extremely good.”

I asked him what makes the caddie/pro relationship succeed.

“I think the way you look at golf and talk about golf, and how you relate to people just works,” Heselden said. “You know how when you meet people you instantly get on, and sometimes you don’t even know why it is. Maybe it’s their sense of humor, or the way they communicate. When I first started out it was with a German girl. We just hit it off instantly. She’s basically the reason I started caddying. Something clicked and I thought this is the coolest job going. Here I am 11 years later, still living the dream. I don’t know how long it’s going to carry on. I just turned 60, so hopefully not too long.”

LPGA caddie Paul Heselden and his wife Jo Glackin at the 2024 ShopRite LPGA Classic

Heselden he stays in touch with DeRoey. “She asked me if I would do Evian, Scottish, and British, but obviously working on the LPGA, I couldn’t say yes or no because I wouldn’t know who I was going to be working for.”

We met again at the ShopRite a week later. His wife, Jo Glackin, had also snagged an extra job helping to paint lines on the course to go with the players’ scorecard guides.

I asked about his process to prepare for a round.

“We get the pin sheet the night before, so obviously I put that in my book. And then sort of plan our strategy around where you want to have the balls on the greens. I see where the wind is potentially different off the tee shots. Obviously, you don’t know where they’re moving their tee shots, but you know where the pins are, so you can plan your strategy where you want to leave it. It can change day to day sometimes. Things get drier, things get wetter. So, you just have to try and work ahead.”

“Some guys do it on the morning, I like to do it the night before, and be a bit more prepared,” he said. “I don’t like to rush things, so that’s pretty much my role.”

“As far as the player’s preparation is concerned, Channatee has a physio on the range,” he said. “If she’s got any niggles he’ll try and loosen those up. They do a few exercises and twists and turns, just making sure she’s loose. And then she’ll hit shots. She won’t hit all the clubs in the bag. She finished with about 6 or 7 drivers, then back to putting for 15 minutes maybe, and then maybe go to the tee.”

[Dryburgh] would be different. She would do intermittent stretching. Gemma would do 20-minute stretching, 20 minutes putting, 5 to 10 minutes chipping, go to the range, then head straight to the tee. Some people like to putt last, some people like to putt first. If it was me, I’d putt last, so everyone’s got their own routines.”

Heselden continued, “I think what Gemma did was pretty good. I think you have to find out what’s right for you. What works for one doesn’t work for another. I think some people get caught up in a thing where they watch somebody do something and they think, well maybe I should be doing that but at the need of the day you’d have to work out what’s right for you and do it that way.”

It looks like Wannasaen and Heselden found a way to work together. Although she missed the cut at the ShopRite, she won the Dana Open in Ohio and thereafter played well in several more events, earning over $584,000.