History-making golf legend comes out of retirement in shock return to The Open at Royal Portrush
SON RISES AGAIN History-making golf legend comes out of retirement in shock return to The Open at Royal Portrush
WHEN Henrik Stenson found out his regular caddie couldn't make The Open he knew exactly who to ask - only the most famous sidekick in the history of golf.
Former Open champion Stenson has teamed up with the legendary caddie Fanny Sunesson, who won four Majors with Sir Nick Faldo.
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Henrik Stenson and Fanny Sunesson at Royal Portrush this week
Credit: Alamy
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Fanny Sunesson has come out of retirement to work alongside the former Open champion
Credit: Getty
Stenson's usual caddie Marcus Larsson is busy in Sweden this week, and so the 2016 Open champion knew the perfect stand-in.
Sunesson retired from full-time caddying in 2012 with a back injury but has occasionally carried the bag for her pal Stenson in the years since, most notably at the Masters six years ago.
And now she is back again — at the age of 58, walking the fairways of Royal Portrush, carrying the bag which can weigh up to 50lbs when loaded with clubs, waterproofs and energy gels.
Ollie Banks, who is Co-Team Principal of LIV Golf's Majesticks team which includes Stenson, said: 'She is still in and around the golf scene quite a bit.
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'Obviously she is a spectacular caddie and worked with a number of icons in the game. She certainly knows what she is doing.
'So they've got a great friendship and have been together for a long time. It's nice to see her back out here.
'She has gone off now to walk some extra holes. She still loves it and lives and breathes the game. She is a great person to be around as well. She has got a great infectious personality.'
Sunesson was back on the bag two weeks ago for the LIV Golf event in Dallas, where Stenson finished tied 45th.
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She was Stenson's full-time caddie from 2006 to 2011, and together they won the Dubai Desert Classic, the WGC-Match Play and Players Championship.
Before that, she had an amazing 14-year spell with Faldo, when she became the first woman to caddie for a Major winner.
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Faldo won four majors with Sunesson on his bag — two Open wins and two Masters victories at Augusta.
He memorably gave her a Claret Jug charm that she still wears on a necklace.
Sir Nick paid tribute to Sunesson's amazing ability as a caddie when he recalled his Masters win of 1990.
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Nick Faldo checks his score card with caddy Fanny Sunesson in 1997
Credit: Reuters
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Nick Faldo gets a hug from Fanny Sunesson after he won the 1996 Masters
Credit: AP:Associated Press
Faldo said: 'Fanny Sunesson was a key figure that week.
'She became the first women caddie ever to win the Masters, ever to win a major even, and I don't think I could have matched Jack Nicklaus and successfully defended without her.
'To my mind, Fanny should be a member of not only the caddie Hall of Fame, but inducted into golf's main Hall of Fame full stop.'
In her incredible career spanning 40 years, Sunesson has appeared in more than 750 tournaments around the world, racking up an incredible 25 professional tournament wins and caddying in six Ryder Cups and one Presidents Cup.
She recently said: 'I never thought of myself as a female caddie - just a caddie.
'Being a caddie is a tough life, with travelling all the time and not always being treated well. But maybe I've been treated better sometimes because I'm a woman - I don't know.'
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