When Xander Schauffele turned pro in 2015, he had a few tasks up his sleeve: become a top golfer and convince Austin Kaiser to be his caddie. Schauffele has undoubtedly achieved both; however, the latter was a little harder to achieve. Why? Well, because Kaiser’s initial interest didn’t lie in golf but in becoming a detective. Regardless, Kaiser agreed to caddie him, and now the duo has one of the healthiest and longest partnerships on the Tour, even with a few “nightmare” moments along the way!

Recently, Xander Schauffele and Austin Kaiser sat down for an interview with the PGA Tour, where they kicked off their conversation by discussing Kaiser’s caddie duties. Schauffele begins, “Preparing the golf bag is mainly Austin’s job.” On cue, Kaiser follows, “So nightly I got to make sure he’s got protein, he’s got bars to eat, stock golf balls, enough gloves.” Kaiser makes sure to show Schauffele’s protein shaker and continues, “I carry backup contact lenses in here just in case, you know, he goes blind on the course, can’t read a putt.”

And then comes the clubs. Schauffele begins, “And then, golf club-wise, we have a few wood options, whether it’s a three-wood, a four-wood, hybrid, a couple different lob wedge grinds, you know, depending on the surface that week. If it’s rained, if it’s been really dry, that kind of affects the whole bag.” And then Xander Schauffele drops the “nightmares” Austin Kaiser experiences.

He says, “Actually, he has nightmares about having like 15 clubs in the bag.” Kaiser agrees and replies, “Once a month, I have a nightmare where I’m just pulling clubs out, and they’re never-ending, and it’s just literally my nightmare.” And as Kaiser explains himself, Schauffele laughs in the background. Hilarious!

However, this isn’t the first time the duo has cracked up the golf world. During a 2023 tournament in Japan, the reigning two-time major champion confronted a tricky 15-foot putt. Kaiser, his caddie for over a decade, confidently predicted that the ball would break to the right. However, Xander Schauffele didn’t buy it. Despite his doubts, he chose to follow Kaiser’s advice, acknowledging that his middling position in the tournament left him little to lose. When the ball ultimately missed by two feet to the left, Schauffele couldn’t contain his shock. Turning to Kaiser, he jibed, “That’s the worst f***ing read I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Aside from these moments, the duo shares a strong partnership on the course. Since Schauffele turned professional, they have secured two Major Championships, two Presidents Cups, a Ryder Cup, seven PGA Tour titles, and an Olympic Gold medal. Given the partnership, it’s no wonder that in 2020, Kaiser confessed, “If Xander fired me and Tiger or any of those guys came up to me, I wouldn’t caddie for anybody else. Because I don’t have that emotional attachment.”

And this confession becomes even more endearing once you hear about the moment Kaiser thought Schauffele would fire him.

Austin Kaiser once thought Xander Schauffele was going to fire him

In 2023, Austin Kaiser and John Ellis, caddie for Wyndham Clark, appeared as guests on an episode of GOLF’s Subpar Podcast. This particular podcast featured many stories, including one from Kaiser about a particularly memorable moment during his early days caddying for Xander Schauffele. He described it as “the lowest point of my life, at that moment right there.”

Kaiser reflected on the incident from Schauffele’s rookie year at the 2016 AT&T Byron Nelson. At that time, they were still a relatively new player/caddie duo, and after Schauffele missed the cut, Kaiser and another caddie decided to enjoy a night out in Dallas. They stumbled upon a bar that offered bottle service for $300, and Kaiser ended up drinking a fifth of Grey Goose.

The night took a wild turn as he found himself in a cemetery during a thunderstorm, making snow angels in the rain. And when a man asked him if he needed help, Kaiser replied, “Dude shut the f-ck up.” But he did worse. As the night progressed, Kaiser’s wife became concerned and used a tracking app to locate him, only to discover he was in a cemetery. She reached out to Schauffele, and he decided to help his friend.

“This is at 2:30 in the morning,” Kaiser recalled. “Xander wanted to wake up and practice at 7 a.m. … I’m literally hugging a tree blacked out, and then Xander, being the good friend that he is, says ‘OK, I’ll find him, send me the screenshot of where he’s at.’” Schauffele arrived at the cemetery, honking his horn to guide Kaiser, who was covered in mud and in no condition to be found.

Once the chaos subsided and Kaiser sobered up, he felt dread at the thought of Schauffele firing him for his antics. “I was worried that Xander would fire me for having to pick him up at 2:30 in the morning,” he said.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen and the duo continues to stay strong!