Getty Image
There’s no better way to cap off a round of golf than by tossing back a beer (or a few) on the 19th hole, but the man who was caddying for Jordan Spieth this week may have gotten a bit more than he bargained for after making a bet with the golfer before his opening round.
On Thursday, the Hero World Challenge officially kicked off in Bermuda, and golf fans had plenty of incentive to tune in to the event at Albany Golf Club when you consider it marked the first time Tiger Woods has played in a tournament since withdrawing from The Masters earlier this year.
Tiger ultimately headed to the clubhouse at +3—eight shots behind Brian Harman and Tony Finau, who wrapped up the opening day tied for first at -5.
Jordan Spieth was sitting in third place at -4 thanks to a pretty wild round where he managed to cancel out four bogeys and a double bogey he recorded on the sixth hole with six birdies and a couple of eagles—and the manner in which he managed to finish under par may have left his caddie less than thrilled.
According to Golf, Spieth’s regular caddie Michael Greller opted to skip the Hero World Challenge to take care of his newborn child, so the golfer recruited his high school buddy Eric Leyendecker to man the bag for him this week.
The two men had already planned to watch the Seahawks and the Cowboys face off on Thursday Night Football when the opening round wrapped up, and before Spieth teed off, Leyendecker promised to drink one beer for every birdie he posted and three beers for every eagle that got jotted down on the scorecard.
Hilarious backstory to Spieth's scorecard:
His buddy Eric is caddying this week. On the first hole Thursday he promised Spieth that for every birdie they made he'd drink 1 beer while they watched tonight's Cowboys game. Make an eagle? 3 beers.
I'll let you do the math: pic.twitter.com/9E0lLerwgh
— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) December 1, 2023
That meant Leyendecker was technically obligated to drink 12 beers over the course of the contest, but when Spieth chatted with the media after the round, he said he was more than happy to give his friend a pass in order to make sure they were in a good position to pick up where they left off on Friday.
I would’ve held him to it, but at the same time, I’m not competing in a tournament where the winner will take home $1 million.