Caddies don't laugh at mistakes...pals may end up bagged says Scots Caddy Alastair Mclean

Sep 21 2008 By Euan Mclean

IT might be the end of an era with Colin Montgomerie sitting at home watching the Ryder Cup on telly - but at least one ever-present Scot is pounding the fairways at Valhalla.

Caddy Alastair McLean is making his SEVENTH appearance on golf's biggest stage, this time carrying the bag of Lee Westwood following the Glaswegian's split with Monty last year.

That makes him Team Europe's longest serving caddy, closely followed by John "Scotchy" Graham - clocking up his sixth appearance this week as he carries for rookie Soren Hansen - and Paul Casey's three-time bagman Craig Connelly.

So while Scottish golf mourns the absence of a homegrown player in the Ryder Cup team for the first time since 1937, our proud tradition of successful caddies looks as healthy as ever.

Mail Sport caught up with McLean ahead of this weekend's showdown with the Americans in Kentucky to find out if the fierce rivalry between the players is matched in the caddy shack. And the surprising answer is NO. Don't get him wrong, the lack of fist pumping and revelling in rivals' mistakes is no reflection of a lesser desire to see the team win.

It's just that in the insecure world of caddies, every one of them knows players enduring a bad week will all too often take it out on the man who just passed him the offending clubs.

So there was never any gloating or poking fun when the USA were getting spanked by record margins in the last two Ryder Cups - because the bagmen knew the stakes were too high for laughing.

McLean said: "The caddies get a similar sense of pride as the players because it's a fantastic event.

"I know we in Europe take it more to our heart than the Americans - it seems to mean more to us. But there's not really a rivalry between us and the American caddies, it's very professional.

"We all know how precarious our roles are so you don't want to make fun of somebody because the cold hard fact is a caddy could lose his job.

"The repercussions of a bad day could be more serious for the caddy than for the player who struggled. We can have a good time but you can't have banter and jokes about something that could prove serious for another caddy's position."

Since his debut at The Belfry in 1993, McLean has been by Montgomerie's side for all but one of the European talisman's Ryder Cup run-outs - he missed the 2002 return to The Belfry because he was caddying for Adam Scott at the time.

Now to be going into matchplay battle with new employer Westwood may feel a little strange - but nothing else will be new to a seasoned campaigner who has learned all there is to know about the special demands of Ryder Cup week.

McLean said: "It's a long, tough and tiring week.

"You have two practice rounds and possibly as many as five rounds crammed into three days of competition.

"Apart from the physical demands it's also emotionally draining. So when it comes to letting off steam on Sunday night you're exhausted. The booze goes to your head quicker and tips you over the cliff.

"For the Europeans at all Ryder Cups, win or lose, it's a forgetful night on the Sunday - a lost weekend. It still amazes me how some boys catch their flights!

"But one of the first lessons I learned was to push through the exhaustion after making a rookie mistake at The Belfry.

"At the end of the tournament I went back to my room to change then laid down for a wee power nap.

"I woke up with my contact lenses stuck to my eyes and all my clothes still on. It was 4am and I'd missed the whole party.

That taught me never to go to bed."