Chris Simmons looks back on his 11th year as a tour caddy with Matt Jordan on the DP World Tour
Another season is in the books and I’m very happy to say it has been a good one with Matt Jordan out on the DP World Tour.
This season was my eighth on the main tour, and 11th as a professional caddy, and it’s great to be able to say I still love this job and I’m enjoying it as much as ever.
The best part of the year, away from on-course performances, has been having my family with me more often. My wife, Rachel, has been coming out with us more and having both our kids with us, seeing some of the most amazing parts of the world, is awesome. At times, it doesn’t feel like I’m at work. I never thought this would be something I could do, and it certainly makes the long trips away from home easier when they’re with us.
On the course, Matt had his best Race to Dubai finish ever, ending the year in 41st place in the rankings and making it to the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai for the first time. He also had six top-10s – in Kenya, Belgium, Scotland, France, Abu Dhabi, and at The Open at Royal Troon. That’s a fantastic list of venues to play your best golf at.
The week at The Open was a massive highlight. For Matt to back up his performance at his home club in the 2023 Open with that level of golf at Royal Troon – in some absolutely brutal conditions – was so impressive. It was also a proud week for me as we managed to stay out of every fairway bunker! I can’t wait to go back to Royal Portrush next season, it’s an amazing place and Matt has some great momentum at The Open.
Having reflected with Matt on the year, the only thing missing now is a win. I’ve got no doubt that one week will see him push on to the next level and open up the next set of opportunities on tour.
Like every job, and every season, there have been challenges along the way. The long-haul travel was tough, particularly when we missed cuts in China and Japan. The missed cut in China was especially tough – watching a putt on 18 horseshoe out of the hole to miss by one never gets easier.
We also had a tough run in Europe, scraping into the weekend at The Belfry and in Switzerland, then missing the cut in two big events in Ireland and at Wentworth. You build yourself up to these key events and it’s never easy to head home when you know a great weekend can change your season in an instant.
However, like I said earlier, it’s been another very positive year on tour. Matt has had his best-ever finish in the order of merit and we’ve got a lot of momentum to take into 2025.
The one thing we definitely need to do next year is make sure Matt doesn’t put his polo shirt on inside out again – especially when we’re in contention in Belgium and have the TV crew watching us.
