Michael Greller got it in the ear during the opening round but Jason Day’s new hire shows how golfers value the partnership

It constitutes a leap of faith to suggest we are witnessing the beginning of the end for one of golf’s most identifiable – and profitable – partnerships. Still, eyebrows were inevitably raised at the stark – and widely audible – rebuke issued by Jordan Spieth to his caddie, Michael Greller, during the opening round of the US Open.

Spieth, who is continuing a climb back towards the summit of the game after months in the doldrums, found the Pacific Ocean with a four-iron tee shot at the eighth hole. The ball had bounced, bounced and bounced before disappearing over a cliff. The Texan’s mood hardly improved with the result of his third shot, which airmailed the green. “Two perfect shots, Michael,” said Spieth to Greller. “You got me in the water on one and over the green on the other.” Oops.

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Later Spieth naturally tried to play down the affair. “When you hit a couple of shots exactly where you want to, and one’s in the water and the other’s dead over the green, I’m gonna be frustrated that, as a team, we didn’t figure out how to make sure that didn’t happen,” he explained.

“I may have looked like the bad guy there but my intentions there were that we should have been in play if the ball is hit solidly and I was out of play on both shots.”

Spieth appears slightly disingenuous with his outlook. There was no “we” or “team” at the time; he was pinning the blame firmly on Greller. It would be a mistake to regard this as an exceptional circumstance but Spieth’s reputation does not lend itself to such episodes. For the best players in the world, rightly or wrongly, part of the highly paid bagman’s job is to act as a punchbag when things go wrong. What Spieth said was not offensive but the social media reaction to his outburst was almost entirely negative. “Who hits the shot?” was the general, and legitimate, theme.

At any given tournament, listen closely enough and you will detect language and abuse fired at caddies that is not for the fainthearted. By and large – there is the odd exception – they take it. This goes with the territory, as does 10% of the huge purse when the going is good. Footballers rant at referees, golfers do likewise to their caddies. Even the most personable players have been guilty of some horrendous slights – personal and professional – towards their hired hand after a miscued iron or misread putt.

The player-caddie relationship has returned to sharp focus this week after Steve Williams stepped from semi-retirement to work for Jason Day. JP Fitzgerald, who enjoyed great success with Rory McIlroy, is tipped to return to the Tour with the hot American prospect Matthew Wolff.

“He came back on the bag to win major championships,” Day said of Williams. “Hopefully I can fulfil that dream for both of us.”

In looking to redress what he regards as underachievement in his career, Day has turned to the man made famous by Tiger Woods – it was not, contrary to occasional Williams perception, the reverse – with the feeling of respect clearly mutual.

“When I retired from caddying, I told my wife that there’s only three players I’d consider working for and Jason is one of them,” Williams said. “He’s not at his peak yet. It was an opportunity I relished.” The “three players” remark suggests the Williams ego has not softened over time.

Day’s relationships with caddies has been fascinating in itself. His long-term coach, and father figure, Colin Swatton was on bag duties for the hitherto most successful spell of the Australian’s professional career. Feeling Swatton would be better served observing from afar, Day turned to friends in rotation as caddies; a scene he obviously felt was not nearly profitable enough. After discussion with his wife, agent and Swatton, Day believed Williams was the man to instil the on-course element of a work ethic he believes has not been at required standard in recent times.

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“I told Steve: ‘Look, My goal is to get back to No 1 in the world,” Day said. “I want to do everything I possibly can to get there. If I need to do whatever you need to tell me, I’ll do it.’

“I know that his drive and his will to be successful is very, very high. I think he’s kind of a no-bullshit kind of guy. He’ll tell you straight. He told me: ‘If you’re not working hard enough, I’m gone.’ So that’s pretty much a good enough incentive to go out and bust your butt.”

To his credit, Day has no form for publicly castigating anybody and certainly not a caddie. Should he try it with Williams – a pitbull type when Woods was at the peak of his powers – it would be quite the spectacle. Spieth versus Greller would represent a plasticine party in comparison.