MJ Maguire continued his great recent run with a stunning nine-under-par 61 that gave the American a strong T4 finish at International Series Thailand - an impressive follow up to his surprise play-off victory the week previously at the Black Mountain Championship in Hua Hin.
Those results – which have put Maguire up to No.5 on The International Series Rankings and fourth on the Asian Tour Order of Merit - are the perfect way to help the American’s caddie, Julian ‘Eggie’ Hunt celebrate 50 years since he first picked up the bag on a frosty November morning in 1974, aged just 10.
The Englishman, with four wins in his career after the victory in Hua Hin, first joined up with Maguire last year for the Hong Kong Open, and he’s been helping ever since for the 32-year-old on The International Series and Asian Tour.
The pair had been trending in the right direction in the build up to the two-week run in Thailand, with a T7 at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters, another recent high.
Speaking about the bond that has been struck by the pair and the success that it has brought, Maguire highlights Eggie’s experience as key. He said: “He's been a huge help for me, that mature presence on the bag, just having somebody who's been through everything, he's seen everything, I just trust that.
“Even in difficult moments when things aren't going so well, he just keeps a very even keel demeanour. Yeah. And he's very good at just kind of getting me back in the right frame of mind, if I get a little bit ahead of myself. He just tells me to keep my head down, and keep chugging along.”
Eggie first decided to pick up the bag after discovering that one round paid more than an entire week of early morning starts as a paper boy.
Since then, he has gone on to work with a host of different pro golfers including German Alex Cejka and Dru Love, the son of Davis Love III. For one memorable week in 1997, he caddied for the legendary Seve Ballesteros, and still admits to a bit of regret for not taking the Spaniard’s bag on a full-time basis.
From range finding and yardage, to club selection and kit management, muscle and motivation, there are many different aspects to the role. When asked what the secret to success is, Eggie is philosophical. “Every player is different, but for Michael, he's very good at what he does. He doesn't make many bad decisions.
“If things are getting tough, just put a joke in there, a bit of a giggle, a little nudge. He knows his way around and he has an old head on young shoulders. He's easy to work for. You have to work out what level of involvement you need. Some players need babysitting, and some don't.”
Did Seve need much babysitting? “Actually, he made the cut the first time that season, and had his first bogey-free round too. It was fun. Really tough but fun. We bounced off each other - anything he threw at me, I gave it straight back. Billy Foster (Seve’s former caddie) called it a mismatch, and it worked. He asked me to work for him, but I couldn’t as I had just started with Alex Cejka.”
The team’s breakthrough win was a year in coming, and Maguire highlights a patient approach as key to a successful partnership. He said: “You have to be patient. It is tough, if you get a bad break here or there.
“It’s not the caddie – it’s just golf. I think a lot of the caddies get maybe canned a little bit too early, but if you keep on trucking along and if it’s not broken, then why fix it? Golf is one of those crazy games, you never know. “
MJ Maguire and Eggie are in action this week at the BNI Indonesian Masters from 31 October to 3 November. This is the seventh of 10 elevated events on The International Series, Asian Tour-sanctioned tournaments that form a pathway onto the LIV Golf League.
The International Series is the most prized pathway in golf. It consists of 10 elite tournaments sanctioned by the Asian Tour and offers the year-long Rankings leader promotion to the LIV Golf League
