TOUR NEWSALL GOOD things come to an end and this week Retief Goosen and his Dublin caddy Colin Byrne, also a columnist for this newspaper, had a "mutual split" after five good years working together, during which time the South African won the US Open.
It is no secret the 39-year-old's game had been in decline and Byrne insists the time felt right for both men to go their separate ways.
"We've run our course," said Byrne from his home in Dublin yesterday. "It was a mutual decision, we had a chat over the phone and it's probably best for both of us. He hasn't been playing great and maybe it's the right time for a change, some fresh ideas."
Byrne first started caddying for Goosen in January 2004 at the PGA's season-opening Mercedes Championship in Hawaii. The pair went on to win 10 tournaments worldwide, including the 2004 US Open at Shinnecock Hills, which Goosen won for the second time.
"Most player, caddy relationships only have a shelf life of three years," said Byrne. "I've almost stretched it to five good years with Retief. It's been pretty intense at times with Retief playing all around the world. I'm happy to relax for a while and not have to go to airports and hotels."
Byrne gave no indication of immediate plans to tote another bag: "I'll sit tight for a while and see where I'm going but obviously if the right opportunity comes my way I'd be pretty interested."
Goosen and Byrne will have one final tournament together: the PGA Grand Slam in a couple of weeks' time in Bermuda. The two-time major winner and European Tour Order of Merit winner (2001 and 2002) will have another Irishman, Dave McNeilly, on his bag for next week's Dunhill Championship in Scotland.
McNeilly split with Sweden's Niclas Fasth at the Mercedes Benz Championship in Cologne two weeks ago. It remains to be seen if this will be the beginnings of a new partnership.
On the US Tour, the FedExCup play-offs limp to an anti-climactic finish at this week's Tour Championship, Vijay Singh having all but secured the glittering trophy before Thursday's opening round.
After winning the first two of the four playoff events, the smooth-swinging Fijian simply needs to complete Sunday's final round to lift the cup and pocket €6 million in cash, with €680,000 deferred.
Last place in the elite 30-man field at East Lake Golf Club would do the trick for Singh (45) but he has set his sights on victory to end the PGA Tour's regular season with a flourish.
"It's a great feeling to know that all I need to do is tee it up and play and I've already won the FedExCup," he told reporters in the tournament build-up.
"But I want to make the point that I'm going to go out there and try to win the tournament. I love Atlanta and I love East Lake. I've had great success there."
Twelve months ago, six players went into the Tour Championship with a chance of winning the inaugural FedExCup before Tiger Woods triumphed to become the overall champion.
This year six has become just one and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem accepts further tweaking of the ongoing FedExCup points system is needed to improve the four-event finale.
"The reality is the number one position in the FedExCup is sewn up before we get to Atlanta and that was not supposed to be part of the equation," Finchem said this week. "So that's an area that we certainly need to look at.
"But I don't think this week is irrelevant now.
"If you just think about the fact that some $22 million is at stake among these top-30 players in the world, so that means a lot."
