Viktor Hovland has emerged as one of the brightest talents in golf and he’s now a fixture in the top-five on the Official World Golf Ranking. Being caddie for such a prodigious young talent is a big job. We get to know the man currently filling the role, Shay Knight, below.
Who Is Viktor Hovland’s Caddie?
Shay Knight has been a caddie for roughly 15 years now and before Hovland he worked with players like Matt Jones, Aron Price, DJ Trahan, Martin Laird, Chez Reavie, Jerry Kelly and Sean O’Hair. How he ended up on Hovland’s bag is interesting. The Norwegian did have his Oklahoma State college coach Alan Bratton on the bag in early 2019 but as he looked to turn pro, he wanted a more permanent caddie in place.
Working with Alan Bratton, his college coach at the 2019 US Open (Getty Images)
After meeting Knight at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, the pair eventually formed a partnership thanks to the role of Rickie Fowler (opens in new tab)‘s caddie, Joe Skovron (opens in new tab).
“Joe called me,” Knight told The Caddie Network. “It was no secret that Viktor would be turning pro at some point this year. Like Viktor, Rickie went to OSU – there’s a strong contingent of OSU guys on the PGA Tour and most are represented by the Wasserman Media Group, including Rickie and Viktor now. Joe asked me if I’d have any interest in caddying for Viktor when the decision to turn pro was official and my answer, obviously, was yes.”
Their first official week together was at the 2019 Travelers Championship where he finished in a tie for 54th.
Working together for the first time in 2019 (Getty Images)
“That first week was sort of an assessment for both of us,” Knight said. “I think the first week, from a mental side, you know if you’ll click or not, in my opinion. Travelers week was to see if we would get on well with each other. That’s half the battle. You need to get on well and have something to talk about to stay engaged in something other than golf to take the stress out of the tournament itself.”
It did not take long for Hovland to impress…
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