This was published 10 months ago
A former North Sydney Bears ballboy earned $3 million in a week ... for carrying a golf bag
In just one week, a former North Sydney Bears ballboy earned more than NRL superstars Latrell Mitchell, Cameron Munster and Reece Walsh do collectively for an entire year. His job? Primarily carrying a golf bag around for 18 holes each day, but it’s so much more than that.
Shay Knight might be one of the most successful products when it comes to Australian sport, yet Rich List compilers would barely think twice about comparing him to the likes of Ben Simmons, Cameron Smith and Sam Kerr.
As a kid, he dreamed of being the next Bears star like Gary Larson or Greg Florimo, patrolling North Sydney Oval in his red and black kit for three years as the club’s ballboy. He played rugby league until he was in his late teens when he copped a savage hit and broke his cheekbone.
“This guy came from nowhere and hit me with his forearm,” Knight says. “It knocked me out and depressed my cheekbone three millimetres. I had to have surgery and I thought, ‘That’s my football career out of the way.’ ”
It might have been the best thing that happened to him.
Having long given up his landscaping career too, Knight has made his name as one of the best caddies in golf, the man behind world No.4 Viktor Hovland, who last week won golf’s richest prize as FedEx Cup champion, a $28 million bonus for being the best player on the PGA Tour last season.
Viktor Hovland’s caddie, Australian Shay Knight.Credit: Getty
Caddies traditionally get a 10 per cent cut of any prizemoney for a tournament win, meaning Knight could have scooped upwards of $3 million alone in the past fortnight after Norway’s Hovland, 25, also won the BMW Championship the week prior.
Knight’s start in the game came through close friend and two-time Australian Open winner Matt Jones, who he played with as a kid out of The Australian Golf Club. Knight could play well, but couldn’t match it with the big hitters and found, despite being a wizard around the greens, the way the modern game was trending meant it wouldn’t be for him.
“I knew in my heart I didn’t have it,” he says. “I didn’t want to waste hard-earned money trying to find it. Matty gave me a call and asked if I wanted to come over [to the United States]. I worked for him for 5½ years.”
Working for a professional golfer can involve being many things: mentor, adviser, friend, travel companion, psychologist, cleaner, the list goes on. But when he started out, Knight asked legendary caddie Mike “Fluff” Cowan, who was once on Tiger Woods’ bag, for just one bit of advice.
Viktor Hovland and Shay Knight celebrate the Tour Championship win.Credit: Getty
“Turn up, keep up and shut up,” Cowan told him.
“He was talking out of his mind, but I kept that in the back of my mind,” Knight says. “You see caddies who talk way too much, and I’m the complete opposite. If a player is asking a question, I will give them my opinion and give it with clarity. If they’re not asking questions, they don’t want any information.”
So, what makes a good caddie?
“I always say you have to be a chameleon,” Knight says. “There’s so many different hats you have to have on. Obviously, every golfer is different in what they want from their caddie. Some want more, some want less. You have to find that out pretty quickly. Otherwise, you’re not going to last long.
Shay Knight watches on as Viktor Hovland plays out of a bunker at The Masters.Credit: AP
“Viktor and I have a lot of conversations between shots. The bottom line with Viktor is he doesn’t need a cheerleader. A lot of golfers do need cheerleaders. I found that out pretty quick. He just wants conversations and engagement to get his mind off whatever is going on in his head, especially if he’s playing bad.
“Now I truly believe in the next couple of years you will see him win a major championship for sure.”
During Hovland’s final round of the Tour Championship with the eye-watering money on offer, Knight was the man tasked with keeping emotions in check.
After a weather delay, Hovland hit a couple of poor shots on the second hole, but sank a 15-footer for par. Despite already having a monster six-shot lead, Knight rushed to him to give him knuckles. On the 11th, Hovland wanted to hit seven-iron into the par-three.
“You can’t get it there with a seven,” Knight told him. “Hit a [soft] chipped six.”
It proved to be the right club. Hovland safely made par.
The Tour Championship was the high point of a nearly five-year relationship between Hovland and Knight, which started when the Australian flew to Oklahoma to chat with the college star about taking on a job as his caddie. Knight wanted to meet in person before he even considered jumping on Hovland’s bag. While he admits he has struggled to adjust to Hovland’s love of heavy metal music, there’s no doubt they are now one of the most formidable duos in world sport.
This year, Hovland was paired with Woods for the first two days of The Masters at Augusta National, with Knight having a front-row seat to what was potentially Woods’ last appearance at the tournament he cherishes more than most. (Woods withdrew with injury after making the cut.)
“It was something special for me personally,” Knight says. “Being in the same group as Tiger was a bucket list for me. To go around Augusta National with him was so surreal - and I didn’t care what the weather was like.”
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