Maja Stark credits her caddie, a former comedian, for helping her win U.S. Women's Open
Maja Stark credits her caddie, a former comedian, for helping her win U.S. Women's Open
ERIN, Wis. – What did Maja Stark do during that extraordinarily long wait on the 18th green – as Julia Lopez Rameriz posted a disastrous eight – with the U.S. Women's Open hanging in the balance? Well, she listened to her caddie, Jeff Brighton, tell a few jokes. The veteran looper used to be a stand-up comedian, and while Stark couldn't remember exactly what he'd said, that part doesn't really matter.
What does matter is that she managed to close out the championship with a bogey that could've easily gotten ugly on a course that offers no guarantees.
"It's great," said Stark, "because it kind of makes me focus on what he's saying instead of how I'm feeling and stuff."
Brighton wasn't keen to divulge any of his material either.
"I don't have jokes," he said while wearing a Wisconsin cheesehead, given to him by USGA CEO Mike Whan. "I've just got a lot of drivel and crap chat."
Caddying for a decade now, Brighton has looped for the likes of Colin Montgomerie on the PGA Tour Champions, Bronte Law in the Solheim Cup and a stint with Jin Young Ko. He's only been with Stark for a few short weeks.
"We had a good game plan and she played so smart, but aggressive at the same time," said Brighton. "That was a big thing. She said playing scared doesn't really work for her. So she was really aggressive to those smart targets and then eventually realized that pars were good scores over the weekend."
Stark closed with a 2-under 70 to finish at 7 under for the tournament, two strokes ahead of world No. 1 Nelly Korda and Rio Takeda.
What will the celebration be like?
"Carnage," Brighton said with a wry smile.
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