Dad Goes Back Home to Son a Winner

This time, the flag from the 18th hole was tucked safely away in his bag in the crazy moments after Billy Mayfair won a playoff at the Nissan Open.

The other time--the only other time--Montana Thompson was the caddie for a tournament winner, the flag got away after John Inman won a five-man playoff in the Southern Open in 1993.

It wouldn’t happen twice.

But the most prized possession in Thompson’s hands wasn’t a flag. It was his orange yardage booklet. He flipped it over and showed what was on the back.

“You are just trying to keep him [Mayfair] cool, but, in the back of my mind, Lucas was there,” Thompson said. “On my yardage book, I have a picture of him. So every time I took it out, I got to look at him.”

Sunday, Lucas Thompson became eight months old.

Before he is nine months old, he is going to have brain surgery in Chicago. The baby at home in Naperville, Ill., was never far from his father’s thoughts during and after Mayfair’s victorious run at Valencia Country Club.

“You can see that the sutures of the skull fused together too early,” Montana said, referring to the picture. “It will not allow the brain to grow.

“They expect it [the surgery] to be three hours. He might be in the hospital three to five days. It’s not something they’ve never done before. It’s a 1-in-1,000 occurrence. He doesn’t have as severe a case as some people, but we’ll get him fixed up.”

On the clear, beautiful day, standing just off No. 18 green, Thompson was optimistic. Lucas is the beneficiary of a Chicago charity, and a dinner will be held for him on March 7. And, as Montana said: “I’m very fortunate. I’m doing a job I love.”

Also, Mayfair is lining up support from his sponsors: club manufacturer Ping and clothing company Antigua. By winning, Mayfair earned $378,000 and, traditionally, the caddie receives 10%.

“My wife [Tammy] and I talked about it, and we’re going to do something more than that,” Mayfair said.

”. . . We’re trying to raise some money right now for the surgery. He’s had a lot on his mind, and he’s not going to work for me now until the Players Championship. I told him to go home, get this taken care of and come back whenever he is ready.”

For Mayfair, who struggled in 1996-97 and missed 24 cuts, the situation that Thompson is going through has put things in perspective.

“Life is a lot more precious than what we do out here,” Mayfair said. “I tried not to think about it [Lucas’s surgery], but obviously I’m very happy to win for that reason right there.”

Maybe there is a reason Mayfair and Thompson got together. Thompson had intended to caddy for only one year and soon one year turned into 10. He began working with Mayfair at the end of last year.

“When I told my wife [Le] I was going back to caddying, she wanted to put her foot down. It was a short conversation,” he said.

“But I’m sure she’s thrilled now. I was about ready to give up caddying, and he [Mayfair] came and rescued me. I guess, from fate.”