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Paolo UggettiESPN
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — A caddie for an amateur collapsed during the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Friday and received CPR over an extended period of time before being taken to a nearby hospital.
Play was stopped on No. 11 for nearly an hour as the caddie for Pebble Beach businessman Geoff Couch was attended to for an extended period of time after he collapsed on the fairway.
The playing group included amateur Lukas Nelson and PGA Tour professionals Beau Hossler and Max McGreevy, who appeared to be shaken up after witnessing the incident. Shortly after the ambulance arrived, Couch left the playing group.
The players and caddies later were seen hugging each other upon receiving news. When asked about the status of the caddie by ESPN, Nelson said the caddie was “doing better.” Golf Channel also reported that the caddie was expected to be OK.
“During the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, there was a medical emergency at No. 11 at Pebble Beach involving an amateur’s caddie,” the PGA Tour said in a statement. “The caddie has been rushed to Montage Health for evaluation. At the direction of the PGA Tour Rules Committee, the players in that group — Max McGreevy and Beau Hossler — paused play during the medical emergency and will be allowed to warm up and resume their round shortly.”
Nearly two hours after the incident occurred, Hossler, McGreevy, and Nelson resumed their round on the 11th hole.
“He fell on top of himself,” McGreevy told ESPN. “We just took the bag off him quickly so they could do CPR.”
After the caddie was stretchered into an ambulance while still receiving CPR, players convened with a PGA Tour rules official. While there was discussion about resuming play, both Hossler and McGreevy, as well as Nelson, pushed back.
“I can’t say that I’m real comfortable at the moment to resume play,” Hossler said. He proceeded to acknowledge that he wasn’t asking for all play to be paused, but felt that he couldn’t continue play as normal after witnessing the incident. “Is the line whether he passes or not?”
Nelson cited the recent Damar Hamlin incident in the NFL as a reason for why they should not continue playing. Eventually, the official asked players if they would be willing to step to the side to allow the group behind them to play through, and the group agreed.
