Tommy Fleetwood's caddie returns after open-heart surgery

Tommy Fleetwood was among the wave of players to go low Thursday morning at the Renaissance Club, turning in a five-under 65 during the first round of the Genesis Scottish Open. But the news was not that Fleetwood went low, but with who.

Fleetwood’s longtime caddie Ian Finnis returned inside the ropes for the first time following his recovery from open-heart surgery. Finnis and Fleetwood have been friends since their teenage years, and have been working together since 2016. Until this spring, Fleetwood could only recall Finnis missing one event—the 2018 BMW International Open, for the birth of Finnis’ eldest son.

However, Finnis missed the Valero Texas Open, the Masters and the RBC Heritage with a rumored heart infection. In late April, Finnis announced he was undergoing a procedure to fix the issue.

“It was great to have Fino back and lovely way to start a tournament,” Fleetwood said Thursday. “It feels nice to have had a really good round in his first week, for him more than anything. It's been great. Felt so normal. We did a great job. Everything sort of flowed, really, today. He made a couple of great decisions, so it's not like he's been away.”

Fleetwood himself has been doing some loop work, carrying the bag for his stepson Oscar Craig on the Challenge Tour. Fleetwood said the experience has proved beneficial for his own game.

“Well, I definitely felt like because I wasn't hitting the shot, I have no feelings towards any golf shot. So when you're caddying, you see what is the right golf shot probably or you give your opinion or you see things very clear for what they are,” Fleetwood explained. “Because it's not like I'm worried about hitting it left, right, long, short, whatever it is, so you say whatever it is. I did enjoy that part. I think the way I spoke to Oscar, I would love to speak to myself like that a lot more often, and yeah, I kind of realized sort of how hard caddying can be at times but I don't really want to tell people.”

Finnis, who lives in England, was able to rejoin his partner ahead of next week’s Open Championship, where the duo contended last year at Royal Liverpool.