Tributes paid to 'legend' Renwick

Some of the game’s leading tour pros share their sadness at news of top Scottish caddie’s passing

By Michael McEwan

The world of golf stopped recently to pay tribute to Scottish caddie Dave Renwick, who passed away at his home in East Calder after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 62.

News of Renwick’s passing broke ahead of the second round of the Dubai Desert Classic. Players, caddies, media and officials subsequently wore black ribbons as a mark of respect to the Scot, with many prominent players taking to Twitter to express their sympathies.

Fellow Scot Paul Lawrie described him as ‘a great guy and a great caddie’, whilst Marc Warren wrote: “We play with a heavy heart today, but his memory will live on. A true legend of Scottish golf, gone but not forgotten.”

Former Masters champion Trevor Immelman remarked that “if there was a Hall of Fame for caddies, he’d be in for sure”, whilst another top Scots caddie, Craig Connelly. linked to a 2004 newspaper article, which noted, “If there was a world ranking system for caddies, then Scotland’s Dave Renwick would be No.1”

SADNESS

Ian Poulter, Luke Donald, Justin Rose and Paul McGinley also tweeted their sadness at his death, as did many others, including Thorbjorn Olesen, Nicolas Colsaerts and Thomas Levet.
Renwick, affectionately known on tour as ‘Buddy’, started caddying in 1983 after serving an apprenticeship as an electrician and working for a time on oil rigs in the North Sea.

During a career that spanned more than 30 years, he carried the bags of the likes of Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell, Adam Scott and KJ Choi. He also helped Jose Maria Olazabal to Masters glory in 1994 and caddied for Steve Elkington when the Australian won the PGA Championship in 1995.

However, it was his two stints with Vijay Singh for which Renwick will be best remembered. All three of the Fijian’s major victories - the US PGA in 1998 and 2004, and the Masters in 2000 - came with Renwick by his side.

The Scot was also there for a large part of Singh’s incredible 2004 season, during which he won nine times on the PGA Tour and supplanted Tiger Woods at the top of the official world golf rankings.

Ernie Els paid his own emotional tribute to Renwick, whom he described as ‘a legend as both a caddie and a person’. “We had lots of great times together,” said the South African. “Whether we were in the US, Europe or Asia, he was a very good friend of mine.

FANTASTIC

“When he caddied for Jose Maria and Vijay, we played so many practice rounds together. Myself and Vijay were both competing at a really high level in those days and Dave was on his bag.
He was a great guy and a very straightforward man. There was no hiding.

“He was a man of few words until you got him going. He led by example the way he caddied and carried himself. He was just a fantastic guy.”

Renwick is survived with his wife, Ruth, and their children.

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