Short shrift: US PGA and caddies at war over advertising income ... and a pair of salmon shorts

Rift between top level caddies and US PGA Tour officials, which has resulted in a lawsuit contesting the rights to bib-sponsor income, descends to farce as one bagman is scolded for wearing the wrong coloured shorts.

A RIFT between caddies for some of golf’s greatest players and US PGA Tour officials, which has resulted in a lawsuit by the bagmen, appears to be growing wider.

Duane Bock, a caddie for US PGA player Kevin Kisner, says a tour official scolded him for wearing salmon-red shorts last weekend at Bay Hill during the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Bock wrote a Facebook post on Saturday following the third round of the tournament, with a photo of him in knee-length shorts and the message: “This PGA Tour is at it again. Apparently they had a problem with the colour of my shorts today.

“After the round, I was told in the scoring trailer by a PGA Tour official that these shorts are not an acceptable colour. Funny how I’ve been wearing these shorts every week for the last 14 tournaments but now they have a problem.”

Bock noted that regulations require “solid-colour, knee-length tailored shorts” and then made his best guess as to why the colour might not have pleased PGA rulemakers.

“Guess the colour of my shorts is taking attention away from that MasterCard symbol I’m advertising on my back for FREE,” Bock wrote.

Bock was among 167 PGA caddies who filed a lawsuit last month against the tour, claiming restraint of trade and seeking a share of the income from sponsor-logo bibs with player names that all caddies are required to wear, serving as human billboards while carrying player clubs.

Originally published as Short shrift: US PGA and caddies at war over advertising income ... and a pair of salmon shorts