The Ryder Cup is one of the most fiercely contested sporting events on the planet.
The 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in September was an incredible spectacle, especially as the United States began to mount a comeback during the Sunday singles matches.
Tensions had actually already boiled over on Saturday, though, when Bryson DeChambeau confronted Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and their caddies after an incident on the 15th green at Bethpage.
Things calmed down quickly when Fleetwood’s caddie – Ian Finnis – stepped in. It was a great example of a caddie knowing when he needed to de-escalate a situation.
The Ryder Cup is about as tribal as sporting events come and with that in mind, it is quite surprising that the European team featured so many non-European caddies.
Sepp Straka had an American caddie at the Ryder Cup, as did Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg and Jon Rahm.
However, the feeling is quite clearly different when it comes down to a European potentially caddying for an American at the Ryder Cup.
Billy Foster claims he’d never join the US Ryder Cup team despite working with Tiger Woods
Billy Foster is one of the most famous caddies in the business and has been the bagman for the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood and even Tiger Woods.
Foster, who caddied for Matt Fitzpatrick during his US Open win in 2022, was actually on the bag for Woods at the Presidents Cup in 2005, filling in for Steve Williams who was away for the birth of his child.
However, would he even consider doing the same thing for the 15-time major champion at the Ryder Cup?
During an appearance on the Rick Shiels Golf Show, Foster spoke about Americans caddying for European players at the Ryder Cup.
He said: “There are quite a few of them. Their take on it is that is my boss, I am working for my boss wherever he goes, which I admire. But personally not a chance. There were rumours years ago, I heard it from five press guys, that Tiger Woods was going to ask you to work for him. It starts going through your head what would you do.
“It’s like Collin Morikawa this year. I worked with him at the Scottish and The Open. Imagine if he wins The Open and says, Billy do you want to caddie for the rest of the year? I would have said that would be nice but I have the week of the Ryder Cup off!“
Foster was asked if he genuinely meant that, to which he replied: “100%. I could never do it. The Ryder Cup is in my life, it’s in my blood. To turncoat and go and caddie for them, I would be giving the wrong yardages on purpose! I could not do it.“
What Tiger Woods told Billy Foster about unease in the US Presidents Cup camp
Woods approached Foster and his boss, Darren Clarke, on the range at Firestone ahead of the WGC-NEC Invitational in 2005.
The now 49-year-old asked Clarke if he would be okay with Foster caddying for him at the Presidents Cup the following month, and the Northern Irishman agreed.
Foster then heard over the next couple of weeks that there was some unease in the US camp that there was going to be a European in the locker room during the Presidents Cup.
The English caddie said: “So I went to Tiger a few weeks later, the next time I saw him I said, ‘Tiger, I understand there’s a bit of unrest in the camp – they don’t want me to caddie for you’.
“He just went, ‘F— them Billy, you’re caddying’. “I went, ‘Alright mate, fair enough’.“
Woods ended the week with a 2-2-1 record at the Presidents Cup with Foster on the bag.
And despite the fact that Woods and Foster have always got on very well, the Englishman never caddied for the American again.
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