Who Is Jordan Spieth’s Caddie?
We take a closer look at the partnership between Jordan Spieth and Michael Greller
Who Is Jordan Spieth's Caddie?
One of the closest player-caddie relationships on Tour is that of Jordan Spieth and his caddie Michael Greller. The pair have worked together since 2011, during which time Spieth has won three Majors.
Greller is 15 years older than Spieth and had a full-time job as a maths teacher when he first met the then much-talked about young star in 2011. Prior to taking the bag, Greller was a high school teacher living and working in Seattle, earning some extra money on the side caddying in his local area. When the US Junior Amateur came to town, that is where Greller met Spieth for the first time.
The two teamed up and, needless to say, Spieth was victorious. The following year, they joined forces again when Spieth, the world’s leading amateur at the time, made the field for the 2012 US Open.
When Spieth turned professional, Greller intended to take one year away from teaching to caddie, expecting his player’s progression to be more gradual. However, halfway through his first season as a professional, Spieth won the John Deere Classic becoming the first teenager to win on the PGA Tour since Ralph Guldahl in 1931.
In 2015, Spieth enjoyed one of the greatest seasons on record, landing both The Masters and US Open at Chambers Bay - which Greller knew particularly well having married his wife Ellie there - before coming up just shy at St Andrews and then again at the PGA Championship.
One of their most iconic wins came at Royal Birkdale at the 2017 Open Championship, where Spieth went on an incredible run over the closing holes. It was a pep talk from Greller that kickstarted his final round, just as the wheels had started to wobble.
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“Michael did a great thing. On the seventh tee box, he said, ‘Do you remember that group you were with in Cabo (Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps) last week? You belong in that. You’re that calibre of athlete and I need you to believe that right now because you’re in a great position in this tournament. This is a new tournament. We’re starting over here’.
“It changed me a bit mentally. I thought about it while I was over some of those key three-four footers that I made on seven and eight and then the 10-footers on 11, 12 – then all of a sudden the lid came off. I thought it was so well said. It was just at the right time and I’ll never forget what he told me, when he told me and the significance it had.”
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The pair are renowned for plenty of pre-shot chatter, most of it coming from Spieth, and they remain one of the most interesting pairings in the game. For more content on the American, see Spieth's what's in the bag setup or learn about his wife Annie Verret.
How much does Jordan Spieth's caddie make?
Not many of us are ever going to know the percentages that each caddie is on but a look at Spieth's incredible season in 2015, a year in which he wasn't far away from a Grand Slam, is fascinating. He likely made $2m, which would have been good enough to rank in the top 40 on the PGA Tour that year.
A figure that came about after working for 25 weeks of the year and one that makes his switch from teaching, where a Dallas teaching starting salary would be around $50,000, a pretty astute move.
Spieth has now racked up 13 wins on the PGA Tour, and his career earnings sit around the $60m mark.
Mark has worked in golf for over 20 years having started off his journalistic life at the Press Association and BBC Sport before moving to Sky Sports where he became their golf editor on skysports.com. He then worked at National Club Golfer and Lady Golfer where he was the deputy editor and he has interviewed many of the leading names in the game, both male and female, ghosted columns for the likes of Robert Rock, Charley Hull and Dame Laura Davies, as well as playing the vast majority of our Top 100 GB&I courses. He loves links golf with a particular love of Royal Dornoch and Kingsbarns. He is now a freelance, also working for the PGA and Robert Rock. Loves tour golf, both men and women and he remains the long-standing owner of an horrific short game. He plays at Moortown with a handicap of 6.
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