Gary Woodland's caddie competes in Senior PGA Championship
· Yahoo Sports
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Gary Woodland has a fill-in caddie this week at the RBC Heritage, and for good reason.
That’s because Brennan “Butchie” Little is competing in the first major of the 2026 season on PGA Tour Champions at the 86th Senior PGA Championship at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida. The field of 156 players includes seven members of the World Golf Hall of Fame and 35 club professionals. Among them is Little out of the North Texas section, who qualified for the second straight year.
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Little is no stranger to Concession Golf Club, having caddied for Woodland when it previously played host to a PGA Tour event. Little tried to make it as a professional, competing in Canada, before turning his attention to caddying in 1999. He’s been on the bag for Woodland since 2016, and helped guide him to an emotional victory at the Texas Children's Houston Open in March, Woodland’s first since brain surgery in 2023 and not long after opening up about dealing with PTSD. He was also on the bag for Woodland’s 2019 U.S. Open title at Pebble Beach and Mike Weir’s Masters victory in 2003. Last week, Little was on the bag for Woodland at Augusta National, and now will be the one hitting the shots.
“He can putt the heck out of it,” Woodland said. “For Champions Tour, he’s long. He just hasn’t played a lot of tournaments of late. It’s just a matter of controlling his nerves.”
Little chose good friend Dean “Dynamite” Emerson, who caddies for Patton Kizzire, to be his bag. [Kizzire isn’t eligible for Harbour Town this year.] Little called up veteran caddie Tim Tucker, the former caddie for Bryson DeChambeau, including during the 2020 U.S. Open triumph as well as on the bag when Kurt Kitayama won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and asked him to fill his shoes with Woodland, who is in the 82-man signature event in the Palmetto State this week. Woodland opened with a bogey-free 66.
“I was impressed,” Tucker said. “His ballstriking was delicious.”
Woodland said that given that Little had a late tee time on Thursday, he was hoping to follow Little’s round online. Asked if he gave Little a pep talk during one of their nightly phone conversations this week, Woodland said, “Nah, he doesn’t need any advice from me.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Gary Woodland's caddie is playing the 2026 Senior PGA Championship