It is known to many as one of the most famous shots in golf’s long and illustrious history — and it happened in our backyard at Inverness Club, the same legendary course which will play host to this weekend’s heralded U.S. Senior Open. 

Rallying from a four-shot deficit on the back nine and making a miraculous par save on hole 17 to remain tied with British Open champion Greg Norman, then 27-year-old Bob Tway proceeded to hit his approach shot on the 18th hole into the greenside bunker, leaving him with a testy shot located short of the pin.  With the 1986 PGA Championship (and $140,000) hanging in the balance, Tway waltzed his way into the bunker and into our hearts, holing the daunting bunker shot to win his first and only major championship.

Seven years later Inverness played host to even more drama.

It was Greg Norman’s 1993 PGA Championship to lose — one of the most distressing moments in golf history.  Lipping out almost identical 18-foot birdie putts for a chance to win in both regulation and in a sudden-death playoff, Norman pulled off what many pundits classify as the most heartbreaking and mind-scrambling defeat in PGA history as Paul Azinger went on to win the championship on the second playoff hole and Norman would suffer yet another grueling defeat at the hands of Inverness.

Now, 25 years later, Bob Tway, 52, is back at Inverness with more magic in his sights, while Norman will not play in the expansive field of 140.

Accompanying Tway and many of the Champions Tour’s most talented players will be 2005 Waite High School graduate, Matt Wortham, who has spent the last ten years working as a caddy at Inverness Club.   Wortham is zealously anticipating his long awaited opportunity to caddy at a major championship, Inverness’ first since 2003 when Bruce Lietzke edged out legend Tom Watson and was crowned U.S. Senior Open Champion.

Wortham, 24, is keeping his fingers crossed that his vast knowledge of the world renowned course will enable him to use his expertise to benefit 53-year-old Vern Spurlock of Fort Worth, Texas and result in a storybook ending like that of Tway’s as opposed to the heartbreak suffered by Norman.

“It’s something that I’ve been envisioning,” said Wortham, wide-eyed.  “I’ve been having flashes and dreams of when Vern has a hot streak and makes a few birdies in a row.  All you have to do is take it one hole at a time, one day at a time, and once you make the cut, you never know what can happen.

“The course has been playing difficult and there are some big names out there but you never know what can happen on Sunday.”

Wortham has a long line of credentials when it comes to coaching and considers caddying “just another form of coaching.”

He was instrumental in forming a women’s golf time for the first team at Waite in 2008.

“I loved it. I was able to get all of the equipment donated by Inverness and we became one of the best public teams in the city, but unfortunately because of the school district’s financial woes, the program was cut.  It was a shame,” Wortham said.

Wortham has been the jayvee basketball coach at Start the past two seasons and was recently named the varsity assistant under head coach Gil Guerrero.

The five-time Caddy of the Year at Inverness is hoping he can take a page out of his coaching book, put his knowledge of the course to use and provide Spurlock with an education and a little guidance.

“Vern has played in a lot of golf tournaments but his biggest disadvantage is that he has never played at Inverness—he knows zero about the course.  I believe my knowledge of where to be on the greens, where you can miss, where not to miss, is going to save him a few strokes this weekend.”

When asked if it has been challenging developing the same fellowship that many of the tour players share with their caddies who serve them year-round or who have served them for many years, Wortham was compelling and said he and Spurlock clicked from the beginning.

“We are already developing a sense of trust.  It is amazing how much trust can be built in just a few days.  He is honored that I am caddying for him,” said Wortham, who had the opportunity to caddy for professional golfers in the tournament but chose the amateur Spurlock instead.

Spurlock was one of four golfer to qualify for the U.S. Senior Open through a sectional tournament and he did do on his first try, shooting a 70 at Ridglea Country Club un Fort Worth on June 27.

“This is a big opportunity for me and I am going to make the best of it,” Wortham said.  “I am sure the atmosphere in itself will be worth it and I wouldn’t rather be caddying for anyone else than Vern.”

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