Do professional golf tour caddies improve player scoring?

Coate, D. and Toomey, M. (2014) Do professional golf tour caddies improve player scoring? Journal of Sports Economics, 15 (3). pp. 303-312. ISSN 1552-7794 doi: 10.1177/1527002512458799

Abstract/Summary

In this article, we compare daily scoring from the 1980s in periods when professional golfers were required to use local caddies at the Western Open professional golf tournament at Butler National and at the Masters professional golf tournament at Augusta National with daily scoring in adjoining periods when golfers could use their tour caddies in these tournaments. We have found daily scoring to be approximately one stroke lower in the tour caddy periods after controlling for player quality, weather, tournament round, and course changes.