It seems that caddies taking off their shirts in celebration isn’t too unusual in the golf world. Recently, during the Solheim Cup, the caddies of Allison Lee and Megan Khang made headlines when they removed their shirts after Lee made an eagle. Now, a funny story involving Xander Schauffele’s caddie, Austin Kaiser, has emerged.
Kaiser appeared on the Golf Subpar podcast in June 2023, where he shared an amusing incident from 2017. Schauffele had just made his debut at the AT&T Byron Nelson and missed the cut, opting to practice after the event. However, Kaiser chose to spend the evening out with a fellow caddie. They ended up at a bar with $300 bottle service, and after consuming some of it, Kaiser became quite drunk. He later found himself caught in a rainstorm at a cemetery, making snow angels. In his intoxicated state, he called his wife, who eventually asked Schauffele to go retrieve him.
Despite the late hour and their relatively new working relationship, Schauffele picked Kaiser up around 2:30 a.m., finding him covered in mud and hugging a tree. Schauffele had Kaiser remove his mud-covered shirt before driving him back, and although Kaiser feared he might be fired, Schauffele kept his sense of humor about the situation. Just two months later, the pair won their first PGA Tour event at the Greenbrier Classic.
Since then, their bond has only grown. Kaiser, who had once planned to become a police officer, was convinced by Schauffele to stay on as his caddie, a decision that has worked out well for both. Kaiser has stated that he wouldn’t caddie for anyone else, as he values the close emotional connection he has with Schauffele, describing it as a perfect balance of friendship and professionalism. The two have been through many highs together, including Schauffele’s gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where Schauffele’s family gifted Kaiser a gold ring to commemorate the win.
Their close relationship is evident, and no amount of drunken antics seems likely to break their
bond.
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