Caddie James Edmondson knows what it takes to build a winning team (ahem, Captain Johnson)
PGA Tour caddies have a language of their own and late Sunday James Edmondson received a text message from a colleague, Josh Cassell, with a fitting new title for his friend – “New Orleans Whisperer.”
Although Edmondson (pictured above, far left) is quick to dismiss credit, his record speaks for itself. With two different players and two different teammates, he’s now caddied for the winning team at the Zurich Classic twice. No one is ever going to confuse the Zurich Classic for the Ryder Cup but both captains for this year’s matches likely would like a few moments of Edmondson’s time following another victorious week with two players that probably don’t jump off the page as easy teammates.
Of particular interest would be Edmondson’s thoughts on the alternate-shot format, in which his player, Davis Riley, and his partner, Nick Hardy, pulled away from the field on Sunday at TPC Louisiana.
For example, when mixing and matching teams is it best to find two players who like each other or two who have similar styles of play? Based on Edmondson’s experience, it’s neither.
“You start at the beginning of the week and you have to have a model in place with everyone on the same page and into the same thing. Find a common theme the guys are interested in,” explained Edmondson, who caddied for Ryan Palmer in 2019 when he won the Zurich Classic while paired with Jon Rahm. “Take that and exploit it and then get someone like [former New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton] who gave them a pre-game locker room talk. Get the best in other sports to get involved. You brainstorm and figure out what makes these players want to be the best.”
Payton’s messages were varied and started on Monday with a series of texts, like “head west” which was a call for the team to keep moving forward despite the outcomes.
“Just random stuff like that. Come up with stuff that motivates players,” Edmondson said.
Edmondson also pointed out that talent helps. Palmer had won multiple times on the Tour and Rahm was, in 2019, a future major champion. He also explained that the dynamic this time was different, with two young players still trying to win for the first time on Tour against a particularly impressive leaderboard that included defending champions Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
Highlights: Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Round 4
“In 2019, Ryan had a player he could lean on, a world-class player, a future major champion. This time it was Davis who had to be the leader. Nick is an awesome player but Davis took it on to hit the shots when the pressure was on,” Edmondson said.
The learning came early at TPC Louisiana. On Thursday, Riley hit his tee shot into the water at the par-4 sixth hole and after the round, player and caddie talked about the need to avoid those types of miscues.
“The rest of the week he piped it every day on that hole. I was so proud of him,” Edmondson said.
That lesson paid off on Sunday at the final hole. With Riley and Hardy two strokes clear of the field, Riley eyed the tee shot on the par-5 closing hole.
“You don’t have to be a hero, tee it low and find the fairway. It’s the fairway finder,” Edmondson told him. “He told me afterward, ‘I was so nervous on that tee ball.’”
Edmondson started working with Riley at the Honda Classic for moments exactly like this and as the golf world inches its way to this year’s Ryder Cup, his ability to recognize and motivate teams in the most individualist of sports is notable – the “New Orleans Whisperer,” as his colleagues might say – but Edmondson credits Riley and offers an even more interesting take for this year’s U.S. Ryder Cup captain, Zach Johnson.
“Davis is made for situations like this and this just proved that he’s able to hit the right shot in the right situation,” Edmondson said. “You look at how the U.S. Ryder Cup teams are getting younger, he’d be a perfect fit.”