Like Father, Like Son
Son of PGA Tour caddie to go for gold in the triple jump at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday
On Sunday, Scottie Scheffler surged from six shots back to capture Olympic Golf gold for Team USA. This week, Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu and Rose Zhang will hope to bring another golf medal home to the States. In a very roundabout way, there could also be a third.
Hold on, let us explain.
On Wednesday, about 26 miles northeast of Le Golf National, U.S. Olympian Russell Robinson will compete in the triple jump, vying for a podium position against the best track & field athletes on the globe. But as The Caddie Network’s Steve Catlin reports, Robinson isn’t simply competing for track glory. A medal for him would be shared with his father, Reynolds Robinson, a veteran Korn Ferry and PGA Tour caddie currently looping for Tyler Duncan.
Reynolds Robinson (left) with former player Joseph Bramlett at the 2021 Honda Classic
Jared C. Tilton
Jared C. Tilton
As Catlin writes, Robinson first began looping as a professional 18 years ago after leaving his job as an accountant for Price Waterhouse Cooper. When his son Russell was only five, he relocated his family to Florida to pursue a life on the bag. The move paid off.
Not only did Reynolds enjoy sustained success on the Korn Ferry Tour, tasting victory with Joseph Bramlett in 2020, but Russell’s elite athletic skills—forged in the youth sports cauldron that is South Florida—began to shine. Russell became a standout junior football player while competing in track & field for “fitness.” That side hustle became the main event when he was recruited by the University of Miami for track, punching his ticket to the Paris games at the Olympic track & field trials in Eugene, Oregon earlier this summer.
According to Catlin, the same week of the trials, Reynolds was caddying for Duncan at the Rocket Mortage Classic in Detroit. They would miss the cut, but that cloud came with a heck of a silver lining for Reynolds.
“Well, there is one good thing that comes from us missing the cut,” Reynolds reportedly said to Duncan on their final hole of the week. “I get to go to Oregon and watch my son jump on Sunday.”
Reynolds Robinson with his son Russell Robinson at the 2024 Olympic Track & Field Trials
Despite missing the cut, Reynolds told his son he couldn’t make it, saying he had to stay and prepare for the John Deere Classic the following week. But that was just a ruse. The Robinson patriarch flew halfway across the country to surprise his son at the finals in Eugene that Sunday. Spurred on by his dad’s presence, Russell finished second, clinching his place in Paris.
Russell Robinson (left) poses with his silver medal following the men's triple jump final at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials
Christian Petersen
Russell Robinson poses with his silver medal following the men's triple jump final at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials
The whole Robinson family, including Reynolds, his wife Erica and daughter Elisha, will be in attendance at the Stade de France on Wednesday to watch Russell try to make his Olympic dream a reality. Reynolds will have to miss the Wyndham Championship for the occasion, but if his son brings home a medal, we doubt anyone—least of all his boss, who knows what it means to compete as a professional athlete—will mind.