Lee Westwood And Caddie Billy Foster Split

Westwood will likely continue with his girlfriend Helen Storey on the bag whilst Foster's future is unclear

Lee Westwood And Caddie Billy Foster Split

Lee Westwood and Billy Foster's split has been confirmed after the former world number one's victory at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Westwood had his girlfriend Helen Storey on the bag in South Africa and it appears she may well be continuing with the job.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Westwood's longtime bagman Billy Foster confirmed the pair had gone their separate ways and revealed that Westwood has begun doing his own yardages.

Foster, arguably one of the greatest caddies of all time, said that Westwood making him 'basically just carry the bag' created an "uncomfortable atmosphere" on the course.

“Ultimately it was no good for Lee and not fair on me either," Foster told the Telegraph.

"So unfortunately the partnership had run its course and we both knew that.

"Times change. It has been a great 10 years of my life with Lee and we had many special times and successes together."

The Yorkshireman was working with Westwood in his previous start at the Turkish Airlines Open and would have bagged around £100,000 had he stayed on another week for the Nedbank.

Foster said, “I can only wish him good luck moving forward - although I do feel he could have waited more than a week before winning a million dollars!”

Watch: Westwood "We'll have to have a bit of a rethink, not just who caddies for me but percentages!"

Billy Foster and Lee Westwood have been together for 10 years on-and-off with their partnership yielding Westwood's best ever golf.

Westwood reached the world number one position with Foster and won 13 times as well as recording eight top threes in majors.

The 24-time European Tour winner looks likely to continue with his girlfriend Helen Storey on the bag.

Storey had caddied for Westwood numerous times over the past few years including at the Made in Denmark this year where Westwood lost in a playoff.

As well as having his girlfriend on the bag, he also had his 16-year-old son Sam caddie for him at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters in October.

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What next for Billy Foster?

Foster is one of the most experienced caddies on Tour having worked with the likes of Westwood, Seve Ballesteros, Darren Clarke, Sergio Garcia, Thomas Bjorn and Gordon Brand Jr.

He also caddied for Tiger Woods at the 2005 Presidents Cup.

Foster could follow Jim 'Bones' Mackay in going into commentary but a man of his experience will surely have plenty of offers coming in.

Of the top players, Rory McIlroy is probably the man who could most benefit from Foster's skills.

McIlroy has had his best friend Harry Diamond as his caddie for the past year after splitting with his longtime caddie JP Fitzgerald in August 2017.

The four-time major winner hasn't played to his potential this year and his caddie Diamond has been criticised.

Another player who may be in the market for a longterm experienced caddie could be Jason Day.

The Aussie split with Colin Swatton last year and has had a couple of caddies since - Rika Batibasaga and Luke Reardon - who are both childhood friends from Australia.

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