Macdonald leaning on caddie who is also his former college coach

On Saturday at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, Stuart Macdonald and his caddie had a serious conversation about Macdonald’s play earlier that day.

Macdonald’s caddie, Rob Bradley, just so happens to be the head men’s golf coach at Purdue University – Macdonald’s alma mater – and former Korn Ferry Tour professional himself.

“Oh he gave me a talking to like it was my freshman year. He just laid into me, hard,” Macdonald says with a laugh. “He basically told me to get my head out of my ass. I was acting a little immature on Saturday and being a little whiney. He let me know it. But I think that helped me going into Sunday’s round.”

“I thought it was a good learning opportunity. I was like, ‘man we should be in contention to win the tournament and now we’re in 40-something place going into the final round.’ I kind of let him have it,” adds Bradley, with a laugh. “I think it was good for him. I’ve been there before where I needed those conversations and I think he was just in a spot when we needed that conversation. He was a million times better on Sunday.”

Indeed, Macdonald turned things around Sunday in Columbus with a solid 67, and he ended up T18. That result means the Canadian, who started the year with limited status but Monday qualified into the Panama Championship and cobbled together a schedule from there, moved from 139th to 110th on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List. As a result, he played his way into a spot at this week's Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance (120-player field filled directly off the Points List).

Now he heads to Victoria National GC with more confidence than at any point during 2020. He’ll have his former coach on his bag again (who is very familiar with Victoria National) and he’ll play a golf course he’s seen and played himself more than 30 times.

“We have a lot of knowledge on this golf course and it’s nice to have (Bradley) around again. He’s played on the Korn Ferry Tour and is a great golfer in his own respect,” says Macdonald. “It’s an added benefit having him on the bag.”

Macdonald says the key at Victoria National will be to commit to every shot. If you miss the fairway or hit it offline you’re making a double-bogey, easy, he says. You just need to get comfortable.

The 25-year-old has been getting much more comfortable on the Korn Ferry Tour through the season, and has learned a lot in his three-year journey in professional golf so far.

Macdonald made his debut on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2018, but he was just a wide-eyed rookie then. He admits it was a lot to take in.

“In 2018 I was kind of like, ‘holy cow I’m on this Tour now. I’m playing with Stuart Appleby and all these guys that I watched on TV growing up,” says Macdonald. “I had wondering eyes and my attention and focus wasn’t 100% there, and on me.

“I think that’s the main thing that’s changed between now and then. I’m a little more concerned about myself, and I’m just trying to get me better.”

Bradley says Macdonald – who he didn’t recruit but coached from his sophomore season onwards and now has become ‘like one his kids’ – has been feeding off a well-rounded game of late. His ball-striking and short-game are both clicking. He’s connected with fellow Purdue alum and Korn Ferry Tour winner Adam Schenk for rounds of golf and advice.

And Bradley, with COVID-19 impacting his team’s fall season, has agreed to caddie for him again this week – making for a positive addition to Macdonald’s support system.

“He just works really hard. He’s a great kid. We’ve always had a close relationship,” says Bradley. “I love when guys come in and he’s been really coachable. He’s really into golf. We’ve always hit it off and I’ve enjoyed helping him.

“The relationship we have – I know I could say anything to him. Watching him play… he has the ability and the game to win out there.”

Macdonald admits his love for the game may be detrimental at times. As in, he rarely takes any breaks. Derek Ingram, Golf Canada’s men’s national team head coach, has told Macdonald repeatedly to take a week or even just two days off in the past, Macdonald says, and he just… hasn’t.

The COVID-19 break, he admits, was good for him.

He stayed with his parents in Palm Springs. It was the first time he’s spent an extended amount of time with them in nearly five years.

“I’d say it was a good thing, for me. The break. I feel like I’m a person who plays a lot of golf – I just can’t get enough of it,” says Macdonald. “Having that time off – the four months between tournaments – was huge. I feel like I didn’t need it, but maybe I did. It was nice to get a reset and refocus on goals and where you want to be. It was good for me.”

So Macdonald returns to a place he’s very familiar this week, Victoria National GC, with a renewed sense of motivation, a solid supporter on his bag, and his love for golf still very much intact. He may not be freewheeling it around the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, but he’ll definitely be more comfortable.

“I don’t think I’ll be freer, but that’s just because I have my eyes set on newer goals,” he says. “Instead of going out there and just trying to keep my status, I’m going out there to maybe try to win.”