— After sliding down the leaderboard and falling out of contention at the Wells Fargo Championship, Grayson Murray decided to part ways with his caddie – mid-round.

Murray, and his caddie Mike Hicks, got into an altercation on the ninth hole Sunday in the final round at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington. Hicks then dropped the bag and handed his smock to a replacement caddie selected by Murray from outside the ropes.

According to sources, the replacement caddie was a friend of Murray named Alex.

The altercation came following a bogey on No. 8 that sent Murray to 1-over for the tournament. Murray then bogeyed Nos. 11, 15 and 18 to finish the event at plus-4.

Murray was 1-over in 62-plus holes with Hicks and 3-over in 9-plus holes working alone.

The Raleigh-native Murray shot an opening-round 67 and entered the weekend just two shots off the lead. He reached 7-under at one point, but a 76 in the third round and further stumbles Sunday took him off the map.

The 55-year-old Hicks, who has caddied on Tour since 1980, has been with Murray since his days on the Web.com tour and even mentored him through Q-School.

Hicks was on the bag for Payne Stewart at the U.S. Open in Pinehurst in 1999 and had also caddied for Greg Norman, Justin Leonard and Steve Stricker.