On Wednesday at THE PLAYERS, player caddies take part in an annual tradition where they aim to create their own Defining Moment by competing in a closest-to-the-pin contest at the iconic 17th hole Island Green. Throughout the practice round on Wednesday, each caddie gets one swing to make their own history at THE PLAYERS.
This year, Bryan Martin, caddie for Rico Hoey, secured the victory in the annual Caddie Competition presented by Knockaround. His distance from the pin was 3 feet 5 inches.
Braden Bailey, caddie for Chandler Phillips, came in second. His distance from the pin was 4 feet 4 inches.
In third place, Darren Reynolds had a distance of 7 feet 6 inches from the pin. He was the caddie for Shane Lowry.
Upon registration at the tournament, each player contributes to the Caddie Competition prize pool. The winning caddie takes home the total pot plus an additional $10,000 courtesy of Knockaround. In addition, THE PLAYERS Championship will also donate funds to a local nonprofit of the winner’s choosing. This year, Martin selected Community PedsCare.
The champion caddie also receives exclusive perks including a VIP parking spot for each competition day, an engraved money clip, a custom drawing by sketch artist Casey Jones and a permanent place of honor on a plaque inside the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse.
Here’s a look at past winners:
- 2000 — Ben Englebrecht, distance: 5 feet 7.5 inches. Caddie for Steve Flesch
- 2001 — (tie) Brian Smith and Ken Comboy, distance: 6 feet 3 inches. Caddies for John Huston and Thomas Bjorn
- 2002 — Corby Segal, distance: 2 feet 10 inches. Caddie for Brent Geiberger
- 2003 — Chris Donald, distance: 9 feet 1 inch. Caddie for Luke Donald
- 2004 — Robert Ames, distance: 4 feet 6 inches. Caddie for Stephen Ames
- 2005 — Chris Jones, distance: 1 foot 4 inches . Caddie for Mark Wilson
- 2006 — Nick Helwig, distance: 6 feet. Caddie for Hank Kuehne
- 2007 — Ray Farnell, distance: 5 feet 3 inches. Caddie for Greg Owen
- 2008 — Jeff Willett, distance: 1 foot 5 inches. Caddie for Brian Bateman
- 2009 — Garerth Lord, distance: 6 feet 1 inches. Caddie for Robert Karlsson
- 2010 — Jorge Camarra, distance: 2 feet 6 inches. Caddie for Robert Karlsson
- 2011 — Anthony Knight, distance: 9 feet 11 inches. Caddie for Aaron Baddeley
- 2012 — Brent Henley, distance: 3 feet 7 inches. Caddie for Robert Garrigus
- 2013 — James Walton, distance: 4 feet 7 inches. Caddie for Y.E. Yang
- 2014 — Chris Callas, distance: 7 feet 8 inches. Caddie for Shawn Stefani
- 2015 — Michael Hartford, distance: 3 feet 7 inches. Caddie for Robert Garrigus
- 2016 — Jon Yarbrough, distance: 5 feet 3 inches. Caddie for Hunter Mahan
- 2017 — Ian Finnish, distance: 6 feet 11 inches. Tommy Fleetwood
- 2018 — Austin Kaiser, distance: 7 feet 2 inches. Caddie for Xander Schauffele
- 2019 — Danny Sahl, distance: 4 feet 3 inches. Caddie for Vijay Singh
- 2020 — Aaron Flener, distance: 2 feet 9 inches. Caddie for J.T. Poston
- 2021 — Chris Rice, distance: 1 foot 2 inches. Caddie for Harold Varner III
- 2022 — Michael Kerr, distance: 3 feet 7 inches. Caddie for Carlos Ortiz
- 2023 — Luke Hopkins, distance: 4 feet 7 inches. Caddie for Ben Martin
- 2024 — Sean McDonagh, distance: 2 feet 1 one inch. Caddie for Vincent Norrman
- 2025 — J.J. Jakovac, Hole-in-one. Caddie for Collin Morikawa
- 2026 — Bryan Martin, distance: 3 feet 5 inches. Caddie for Rico Hoey
