Colin Byrne to caddie for Rafa Cabrera-Bello next season

Ryder Cup player Rafa Cabrera-Bello will have veteran caddie Colin Byrne as his new bagman when he switches an increased focus on the PGA Tour stateside next year after the Spaniard – ranked 32nd in the world – nabbed the Dubliner for the upcoming season.

Byrne, who caddied for Retief Goosen when he won the US Open in 2004 and who also numbers Ernie Els, Edoardo Molinari and Alex Noren among his past employers, will aim to assist Cabrera Bello’s quest to return to the winner’s enclosure: his last tour win came in the 2012 Dubai Desert Classic, although his upward graph was confirmed with a fine 2016 season that included runner-up finishes in Qatar and Dubai, a semi-final appearance at the WGC-Dell Matchplay and a maiden Ryder Cup appearance at Halzeltine.

The 32-year-old parted company with his caddie of almost five years Mike Batty and has brought Byrne on board in his bid to move onto the next phase of his career. “My next mission,” said Byrne of his new appointment, adding: “I suppose the first thing I wondered or questioned, he seemed to be doing really well with the guy he’s been with, why the change? He just feels playing in the states he needs someone who is familiar over there and I suppose he needs a change. I can appreciate that.”

Byrne worked in a caddie-sharing arrangement with Els up to the middle of this year and freelanced a number of bags late in the season as he assessed his options. Last week, he was on the bag for Tom Lewis who regained his tour card at European Tour Q-School.

“Tom Lewis was a prospect after tour school and I would have been pretty happy to do that because I think he’s going to come back, he’s figured it all out. Caddying for him would have been a good option too, although I see it more as a mentoring role with Tom.”

“I was pretty lucky with Ernie where by sharing I was doing maybe 16 events a year, so this will be a lot more but that’s the nature of the business. Rafa’s an interesting prospect, if you look at his escalation in the year he seems to be going the right way. It’s always nice to be approached by someone who is playing as well as he is. The easiest way to be a good caddie is to do it when they’re playing well!” said Byrne, from Howth in Co Dublin.