Tyrrell Hatton's Caddie To Miss The Masters After 'Really Bad Bone Bruising' Fall
Tyrrell Hatton will be without his regular caddie at The Masters after he suffered a fall, but Jon Rahm hopes to be reunited with his at Augusta after illness
After suffering a fall, Tyrrell Hatton's caddie Mick Donaghy will not be on his bag for The Masters, but Jon Rahm hopes to have his regular bagman by his side for his defence of the Green Jacket.
Both Legion XIII players had to make a caddie switch for the final round of the LIV Golf Miami event, but while Hatton will be without his regular man on the bag for a while, Rahm hopes to be reunited with his at Augusta.
Hatton says Donaghy will be out of action for a month after suffering a bone bruise on his shoulder following a fall - so will have a friend on the bag for The Masters this week.
Defending Masters champion Rahm also had to do without Adam Hayes on his bag in Miami through illness, but hopes to have his regular caddie with him as he looks to win back-to-back Green Jackets this week.
Rahm and Hatton went on to win the LIV team prize in Miami, but a much tougher test awaits in navigating Augusta National - and the defending champion believes his regular caddie will recover in time.
"Tyrrell and I both had substitute caddies for different reasons," said Rahm. "Luckily in my case, one of my best friends, Ben Schur, who was a teammate who caddied for me my first few starts on Tour before I found Adam, was here.
"Even though it was a little different, it was a familiar face to be with and somebody I’m comfortable with to talk around. Obviously I feel bad for Adam. Hopefully he gets better soon, which he will. It takes a lot for him not to caddie. Let’s just say that."
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Hatton has not been so lucky though, with Donaghy spending time in hospital after his fall and now needing to take a month off.
In his usual style, Hatton joked about the fall, with Rahm also chuckling as the Englishman hinted his veteran caddie may have overindulged at dinner.
"My caddie fell over last night after dinner," said Hatton. "Now, his reputation is an interesting one, so I don’t know how the fall really occurred, but either way, he landed pretty heavy on his shoulder. He spent the afternoon in hospital. He’s had an X-ray. He won’t be caddying for the next month.
"As far as I’m aware he’s got really bad bone bruising, so I think that’s good that he’s not broken anything, but I’ve got a friend on the bag.
"He’s actually flying tomorrow now to Augusta, and he’ll do Adelaide and Singapore if we can get a visa in time for him to do Australia."
Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.
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