Allenby fires caddie mid-round

By Australian Golf Digest

ROBERT Allenby’s year from hell hit new a new low overnight with the US PGA tour veteran sacking caddie Mick Middlemo mid-round at the Canadian Open.

The controversial Aussie veteran was preparing to play his fourth shot on the par-5 13th hole after taking a penalty stroke off the tee when Middlemo suggested he use an 8-iron instead of a 7-iron. The shot came up short and so did Allenby’s patience.

“He just lost the plot at me,” Allenby said after the round.

“He just told me I could go eff myself. He just got right in my face as if he wanted to just beat me up. I said, ‘stop being a such and such and calm down and get back into the game. And he just got even closer and closer and I just said, ‘That’s it, you’re sacked’.

“This is the worst incident I’ve ever witnessed as a player; I’ve never been threatened and as he walked away he said, ‘I’ll be waiting for you in the car park’.

“He’s an Australian and he didn’t act like an Australian, let’s put it that way.”

Middlemo saw it a little differently.

“Robert’s a pretty highly strung individual and he hasn’t been playing great of late,” Middlemo told SEN radio.

“We had a discussion about a club, then of course I copped the wrath of that.

“Then unfortunately the personal insults started. I’ve been called a bad caddie … but when the personal insults come in and you’re being called a fat so-and-so … I got a little bit peeved by it and then the third time he said it I walked up to him and basically said ‘I dare you to say that to me again’.

“He didn’t say it again. There was never going to be any violence … I was just going to put the bag down, get my gear and leave.

“I basically said on the 13th hole ‘you don’t have to worry about it because I won’t be here tomorrow’ and he said ‘you’re right, because I definitely won’t have you back’.”

Tom Fraser, a teacher and golf fan from Ontario who was watching from inside the ropes, stepped inside the ropes to carry his bag.

The altercation continues a disastrous season for Allenby, a year tarnished by poor form and a much-publicised abduction and robbing in Hawaii.