WATCH ABOVE: Kingston’s Tom Fraser played hooky from work to attend today’s RBC Canadian Open with his buddies Little did he know he’d be ditching his golfing pals to caddy for Robert Allenby.
OAKVILLE, Ont. – Tom Fraser played hooky from work and ended up carrying the clubs of PGA Tour pro Robert Allenby at the RBC Canadian Open during the first round Thursday.
Allenby, a veteran tour pro from Australia who earlier this year said he was mugged at a tournament in Hawaii, had a run in with his caddie in the middle of his first round at Glen Abbey Golf Club. His caddie, Mick Middlemo, who started working with Allenby this year, disagreed with the golfer over club selection on the 13th hole, a par five in the course’s valley.
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The disagreement got heated after Allenby hit his approach shot in the water.
“I said to him, ‘You know this happens every week. This has happened for like the last three or four or five months. We keep making bad mistakes and you’re not helping me in these circumstances,’” Allenby told Jason Logan, the editor of SCOREGolf.
“And he just lost the plot at me. He just told me I could go eff myself. And I said, ‘Look, you need to slow down. I mean just calm down.’ And then he just got right in my face as if he wanted to just beat me up.”
In the end, Middlemo told Allenby he was going to fight him in the parking lot and left the bag after nine holes. That’s when Fraser encountered Allenby, who was carrying his bag between holes.
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“I raised my hand and said, ‘I’ll carry your clubs,’” Fraser said. “I thought it was a long shot but I’d offer my services.”
With few options—Allenby is prohibited by PGA Tour rules from carrying his own clubs—the golfer accepted the offer. Fraser, a golfer who hadn’t caddied in the past, kept out of Allenby’s way for the first few holes, and the Australian golfer even raked his own bunker when his ball ended up in a sand trap.
Fraser celebrated over beers with four friends following his time looping for Allenby.
“Robert thanked me for helping him out and I thanked him for an experience of lifetime,” Fraser said.
Allenby promptly withdrew from the tournament, saying he planned to fly home.
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It is the latest in a strange series of events that have plagued the golfer this year.
At a tournament in Hawaii in January, Allenby claimed he was mugged outside a wine bar, kidnapped and dropped at a remote location. Other witnesses said Allenby was drunk and hurt himself when he fell down, while others claimed Allenby spent thousands at a local strip bar before the alleged incident.
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