Spouse Helps Carry Lyle Into Lead at Greensboro

It got so bad for Sandy Lyle last week that his own caddie “sacked him” after missing yet another cut.

On this side of the Atlantic, that means the caddie quit on the former Masters and British Open champion, who hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since Augusta in 1988.

So the struggling golfer from Scotland, the former No. 1 player in the world who won two majors by the time he was 30, turned to his wife, Jolande, and she carted his bag around Forest Oaks Country Club during Thursday’s first round of the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic.

She hadn’t caddied for her husband in about four years, but it turned out to be a perfect match; Lyle carded a six-under-par 66 for his best round on tour since August 1996.

“She’s very cheerful, you’ve got to keep in a cheerful mood,” Lyle said of his wife’s demeanor on the course. “But she’ll give you a thump on the back of the head if you’re not careful.”

Lyle’s round, which started in the morning on the back nine with three consecutive birdies, was good enough to share the lead with Mike Hulbert, who birdied his first five holes, and 24-year-old tour rookie Robert Damron.

Golf Notes

Arizona scored a tournament-best 285 on the final day of competition Wednesday to overcome a four-stroke deficit and win the Pacific 10 Conference women’s championship at Tacoma, Wash. The defending national champion finished with a 54-hole total of 867, the lowest score in tournament history. Arizona State was next with an 882, followed by UCLA at 883. Mhairi McKay of Stanford was the medalist with a three-round score of 207.