With Rickie Fowler searching for a win, every decision he makes on the course is vital. Whether it is picking the right club, understanding the lie, or reading the green. The beloved golf star has been winless for more than two years now, and he is getting hungry for a title after every tournament. It’s very easy for him or any other professional golfer to lose focus. That’s where experienced caddies come in. And the man carrying the bags and providing vital tips for Fowler on the course is his long-time caddie, Ricky Romano.

According to Golf Magic, the Romano and Fowler partnership dates back to October 2022. That’s when to two first joined forces. Rickie had just come off a strong partnership with Joe Skovron, who had been his caddie for 13 years before that. With Skovron, Fowler was immensely successful despite not winning that many titles. His amazing run in 2014 saw him finish at T5 or better in every major throughout the year. Overall, the 36-year-old had 6 more top-10 finishes in the season and was ranked 9th on the FedEx Cup leaderboard without a single win.

It was clear that Ricky had big shoes to fill. And he did so quite efficiently. The two have formed an outstanding bond and are going strong in every tournament. During his time with Romano, Fowler broke his 4 year winless streak in 2023 by capturing the Rocket Classic title. He also had 7 other top-10 finishes, including the T2 in the 2022 ZOZO Championship. Their pairing worked because Ricky Romano had also come off a lot of experience himself.

Romano has caddied for a number of golfers in the past. He was the bagman for Ben Crane, Jason Kokrak, Aaron Wise, Nate Lashley, Sung Kang, Charlie Beljan, and Arjun Atwal. Everyone he has caddied for has won at least one PGA Tour title in their career. In fact, all of them together have captured 13 PGA Tour wins in total. But Fowler is certainly the most successful boss he has had. And Romano is cherishing every moment with him.

In an interview for GOLF.com, the experienced caddie confessed, “Rick is amazing to caddie for. Just the way that he treats you, opposed to other guys I’ve worked for, who can give it to you bad. Which I understand. You’ve got to give it to somebody. You’re hitting the shots, but if it’s not you, it’s me. I get it. I totally get it. But Rick’s not like that. Rick is different.” Romano is not the first person to speak about Fowler in a positive light. The PGA Tour star is known for his kind and approachable nature. Fans got a glimpse of it in the 2024 Rocket Classic as they called him “humble” for allowing Make-A-Wish recipient, Parker Milkos, to caddie for him during his title defence.

It’s evident that Romano also thinks very highly of his boss. As he mentioned, “The guy is such a genuinely nice, good dude. And I can say that — it’s not a made-up thing. It’s not like people are like, he’s been grilled on this, this is how you have to act. This is Rick. This is how he acts. He just gets it. It’s very special to caddie for Rick, and I don’t take it for granted at all.” Fowler’s genuine and earnest nature has left a positive impression on his caddie. No wonder the two share such a great dynamic on the course.

While his flow with Fowler might be great, Romano seems to have a strong passion for something other than golf. And he isn’t afraid to show it off on his Instagram.

Ricky Romano’s adventures when Rickie Fowler is not around

On the course, fans have often seen Ricky Romano celebrate his boss’s great strokes very enthusiastically. Apart from years of experience, he’s also known for his high energy and enthusiasm. However, Rickie Fowler’s caddie enjoys a much calmer life away from the course, or so it may seem at first. Landing on Romano’s Instagram, the first thing you would see is him posing with his catch. During his time off, he enjoys taking out the boat and going fishing.

While it might seem like an ordinary hobby, as you scroll down, you will see that Romano is a serial fisher. Most of his posts include pictures of his prized catches. To this day, the biggest fish he has caught was a Thresher shark, which weighed 564 lbs, a record at Ocean Harbor. While he doesn’t mention where he specifically catches them, Lake Elsinore is the closest freshwater lake around Murrieta, California, where he is from. Ironically, that’s where Rickie Fowler was also born. Other than that, something else that is common between Ricky Romano and his boss is that the caddie is a really good golfer himself. He even played the sport at the college level before switching to caddying.