Golf

Caddie's 'vast experience' guiding Lincicome well

The view from outside the ropes is not nearly as good. Nor is watching the action from afar as much fun as it was while being part of it. Tom Lincicome is learning to be a spectator, a difficult task for a dad with such a vested interest in his daughter's success.

By BOB HARIG
Published June 6, 2007

The view from outside the ropes is not nearly as good. Nor is watching the action from afar as much fun as it was while being part of it. Tom Lincicome is learning to be a spectator, a difficult task for a dad with such a vested interest in his daughter's success.

Throughout Brittany Lincicome's junior career and her ascension to professional golfer, Tom Lincicome was there to guide her along, serving many roles, chief among them as a caddie.

This year, however, he handed over the bag to someone else. And there has been an adjustment.

"I think it's more stressful now, " he said. "I could tell her things, and we'd work on it together. Outside the ropes, there is nothing I can do. I can't say anything. It was a whole lot more fun inside.

"But I think he is a real good fit with his vast experience. That made it so much easier to say, 'Here is the reins, go with it.' It's not like somebody who doesn't have a track record. I'm real comfortable with him."

That would be Greg Johnston, a veteran caddie on the LPGA Tour who started working for the Seminole resident in the fall at the ADT Championship.

So far, the results have been pretty good. Lincicome won her second career title at the Ginn Open in April after tying for second at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. On Thursday, she begins play in the McDonald's LPGA Championship, the year's second major.

"It's been great, " said Johnston, a 20-year veteran. "She's a great girl, a lot of fun to be around. I'm really enjoying it. I became available ... however you want to put it. And as far as available players out here, she was in my opinion the best one. She showed interest, and here we are."

Johnston "became available" last summer when he was surprisingly dumped by Michelle Wie, whom he had worked for since the teenage phenom turned pro in 2005. Johnston got the word while at the Manchester, England, airport following the Women's British Open.

To work with Wie, Johnston had left his longtime employer, LPGA Hall of Famer Juli Inkster.

"Juli is without a doubt the most competitive player I've been around, " Johnston said. "And she prepares very well. A lot of players do, but she never came to a tournament which she wasn't prepared. Those are things I try to take with me."

And he has tried to help Lincicome, 21, with those factors as well. He was a huge help at the Kraft Nabisco, where he had traipsed across the Mission Hills course many times. Lincicome was making her first appearance in the event, and Johnston's knowledge came in handy.

"I think he was looking for somebody young and coming up, " Lincicome said. "So I fit well with him, and he definitely fits well with me just because he knows a lot of information. It's a good mix."

"The Wie family really made a mistake, didn't they?" said Matt Mitchell, Lincicome's coach. "He is so thorough. The guy worked for 12 years for a woman Inkster who is a Hall of Famer and has two kids. She understood time management. He's been a dream for Brittany in terms of time management and course management. He's fabulous. And he's a good guy."

Lincicome has missed just one cut this year and has earned $599, 967 to rank fifth on the LPGA Tour money list. She is also 13th in the world rankings.

As for dad, he'll continue to walk every step of the way, this week at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Maryland.

But without having to carry the bag.

"I've come to realize that this is the way it's going to be and this is it, " Tom Lincicome said. "I did it for a while, we got a win last year, and that was so much fun to be able to do that with her. I guess I'll just have to be a fan for the rest of my life."

PGA: Phil Mickelson withdrew from the final event before the U.S. Open and will have a cortisone shot in his left wrist.

Fast Facts:

McDonald's LPGA Championship

Where: Havre de Grace, Md.

When: Thursday-Sunday

Course: Bulle Rock Golf Course (6, 562 yards, par 72)

Purse: $2-million. Winner's share: $300, 000

TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 12:30-3:30 p.m., 7-10 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 4-7 p.m., 7:30-10:30 p.m.)

Last year's winner: Se Ri Pak

[Last modified June 5, 2007, 23:23:36]