Linn Strickler, caddie of Greg Norman of Australia, is pictured on the 10th in the third round at The Open golf tournament at Royal Birkdale in Southport in north-west England, on July 19, 2008. Photo by AFP/Getty Images

Linn Strickler is a caddie at the Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, a grizzled veteran whose nickname is "Growler." He has been all over the world and looped for hundreds if not thousands of golfers during the last 30-plus years. Seemingly, he would observe the rest of his golf days comfortably carrying bags of 25-handicappers at the club voted as one of the best new ones in the country by top golf publications and web sites. But a call from Greg Norman changed everything.

Let's go back to the beginning. Strickler served a tour during the Vietnam War, where among other chores he saw combat along with a brood of bomb-sniffing dogs. Not long after he got back to the States, Jim Barber finished second to Tom Weiskopf at the Philadelphia Classic. Strickler and Barber had been softball teammates. The Growler called his old friend up and announced that he had a new caddie.

He took to caddying like a shark to water. Players liked his direct, no-nonsense style and the raspy baritone that earned him his nickname on the PGA Tour. His first big-name golfer was Curtis Strange, for whom Strickler looped in the early 1980s. He moved on to Fred Couples, and together they won the Players Championship in 1984. Other boldface-name employers include Nick Price, John Cook, Ben Crenshaw, Craig Stadler, and the late Payne Stewart.

A legendary story is that while caddying for Stewart in his early days as a player on the Tour, Stewart wondered why every yardage given to him by his caddie from the fairway ended in a zero or five instead of an exact number. "Because you're not that good," Strickler growled. All told, Strickler was on the bag for 12 PGA Tour victories.

Laughing Greg Norman of Australia talks to caddie Linn Strickler during the First Round of the 137th Open Championship on July 17, 2008 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, England. Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images

In recent years the good gigs were fewer and farther between. In 2007, he had short stints working for Tommy Armour, III, Robert Gamez, and Phil Blackmar. Strickler thought he needed a break to ponder the future, so he got off the PGA Tour treadmill and signed on at the Sebonack Club. One day last May, "Today" show co-host Matt Lauer showed up at Sebonack to play a round with his friend Greg Norman. Back in the early 1990s, Strickler had substituted a few times for the Shark's regular caddie, Bruce Edwards.

During the round in Southampton, Norman asked the 58-year-old caddie about the availability. Strickler shrugged, and growled something along the lines of, "Call me when you've got something and I'll see." By the end of the round, Norman already had that "something" to offer - caddie for him at the British Open. Strickler said he would create an opening in his schedule.

Off he went to Royal Birkdale last month. And as we now know, Greg Norman turned back the clock and had a terrific British Open. He came within a few strokes of adding a third Claret Jug to his collection. Strickler was with him every step of the way. Being of the same height as Norman and also lean with weathered features, the Growler and the Shark resembled brothers, though one cheeky tabloid declared, "He's his daddy, not his caddie."

Strickler didn't mind that so much as the incessant questions about Chris Evert, who Norman had married only a few weeks before. During one wait between holes in the third round, Strickler growled, "If I hear that one more time, I'm going to take him out." Of course, only seconds later a BBC technician wandered up to him and asked, "Have you seen Chris Evert?" Fortunately, Strickler restrained himself.

He stayed in Great Britain with Norman to compete in the Senior British Open, where the Shark also had a top-10 finish. Norman turned down an invitation to play in the PGA Championship, so this month it's back at Sebonack Golf Club for Strickler. But who knows? After the British Open experience, he might have a future in this game.

Switching gears: The quest for the FedEx Cup has begun on the PGA Tour, with a $10 million prize awaiting the winner at the end of September. For those of us willing to travel a bit, the Barclays Classic is being held this week in New Jersey, and the following week the PGA Tour stops in Boston.

The biggest event in September is, of course, the Ryder Cup, at Valhalla in Kentucky. As if the Americans aren't up against enough, this will be the first time since 1995 that the U.S. team will not have Tiger Woods on it. On Sept. 2, Paul Azinger will announce his unprecedented four Captain's picks. I say that he goes with the young and the restless whom have played well lately over veterans who have taken it on the chin since 2002. More on this next time.