Jonathan Jakovac has a great story from the first time he caddied on the PGA Tour at the 2009 Sony Open.
“I walked up and started talking to him, and he couldn’t have been nicer,” Jakovac said to Chico State Today, remembering approaching legendary caddie Fluff Cowan for the first time.
“I talked to him for a few minutes and then I said, ‘All right, give me some advice, Fluff. How do I become a good caddie?’ He’s smoking his Marlboro Red. He looks up and goes, ‘You wanna be a good caddie?’ in his Maine accent. ‘Get the best player’.”
Jakovac hasn’t gone too far wrong since that day as 10 years later, he got on the bag for Collin Morikawa who became an instant hit on the PGA Tour and in the majors.
It wasn’t inconceivable that Jakovac could’ve been competing against Morikawa and co. at one time. At the start of the millennium, Jakovac was one of the best golfers at the collegiate level.
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Collin Morikawa caddie: Jonathan Jakovac was quite the player himself
He was the individual champion at the 2002 and 2004 Division II Championships and a three-time All-American. He won the Arnold Palmer award twice in Division II and in 2004, Jakovac won the Jack Nicklaus award for the most outstanding college player altogether.
He turned professional but things didn’t work out, so he pursued the caddie route. He caddied for Ryan Moore for over seven years. Moore has been a consistent PGA Tour player and earned the winning point for Team USA at the 2016 Ryder Cup.
The pair went their seperate ways, so Jakovac was on the lookout for a new star to ally with. He reached out to Morikawa’s agent in 2019 and looped for him at a US Open qualifier. The rest is history, as they say, and the duo have experienced much success together including two major championships.
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Morikawa won the PGA Championship in 2020 and The Open Championship at Royal St. George’s in 2021. He has been as high as number two in the world rankings, has come at least fourth in every major, won six times on the PGA Tour and is now a staple of the US Ryder Cup team.
And this has all happened with Jakovac by his side. Having been a top player himself, Jakovac can take the player’s point of view in his role as counsel to Morikawa.
“I’ve always said that if I was playing, I would want someone who had been in a big spot before and had to hit a big shot and felt the nerves and the pressure,” Jakovac added.
“You want to put what you think is the best plan in their mind. But if they can’t see it and they don’t believe it, it’s not going to work. What you’re really doing as a caddie is breeding confidence. That’s how you get the best out of the player.”
JJ rolled back the years at the 2025 Players Championship in the Caddie Competition on the 17th hole on the final practice day. He made an ace which sent everyone on the tee box wild.
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