Billy's Masters moments

From his debut with Seve in 1991, caddie legend Billy Foster recalls more than 20 years at Augusta.

From Seve, to Darren Clarke to Lee Westwood, caddie Billy Foster recalls more than 20 years at Augusta

Legendary caddie Billy Foster knows Augusta like the back of his hand. From his first visit in 1991 when bagman for the great Seve Ballesteros to the recent near misses with Lee Westwood, the Yorkshireman has built up an incredible vault of stories. Here, he looks back at some of his most memorable Masters moments - both good and bad! My first Masters - with Seve Ballesteros When I first went there, it was with Seve in 1991, and it was the Saturday before the Masters. And it was eerily quiet. Just the tranquillity of the place and the birds tweeting, I just stood there on the first tee, looking down the 18th, and I was just overawed by it. It was something really special. Seve played a practice round on his own and it took him seven hours! He must have hit 10 tee-shots off every tee, 25 shots into every green and 50 chips and 100 putts on every hole. He practised Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and by the time the tournament started on Thursday I was that knackered I was ready to go home and the tournament hadn't even started! But it was such a pleasure to be there after all the years of watching it on TV. Finally being there made you think you'd finally achieved a real goal. Learning Augusta with Seve Obviously you give him all his numbers and clubs in etc but you're getting taught the way to play Augusta by a two-time champion and a guy who took so much pride in his course management and with a never say die attitude. To learn it through the eyes of Seve was amazing. Every time you went round there with him in those seven-hour practice rounds you learnt where to go, where not to go and it becomes ingrained in your head. So you become a back-up for him to rely on and to remind him to put it in the right spots Amazing shot The one that stands out for me was on the fourth hole - par three, down the hill. The pin was front right on the bottom platform and the green is only 10-12 yards wide on the front portion. Anything right of the flag is obviously in the big bunker. Anyway, he hit this shot and shanked it out to the right there and finished by the bushes, short and right of the green. He'd absolutely no shot. He's probably 20 yards from the hole but the level of the green's probably 10 feet above him and he's short right of the bunker but the pin's on the front right and, of course, when you land it on the green which is going to be rock hard the ball will just run away to the left as it's so fast. Realistically you're going to struggle to keep it on the green. Seve never had a lob wedge. The most loft he had on the club was a 56 degree sand wedge. Anyway, he proceeded to open the clubface up, stand really open and give it the 100 mile an hour swing and this thing just went up through his nostrils and came down like a parachute. It went about 100 foot in the air, just carried the bunker by about a foot and it just trickled down there to two feet. It's up there with one of the best shots I ever saw him play. We were actually playing with Ray Floyd and Steve Williams was caddying for him. Ray Floyd said that's arguably the best shot he's ever seen and coming from him that's obviously pretty special. It was an unbelievable shot to keep it on the green, never mind put it to two feet. Bust-up with Seve The one that really stands out was at the 17th hole. It was quite possibly the same day as his wonder shot at the fourth as Ray Floyd and Steve Williams were with us again. He was playing the 17th and the pin was back left of the green. Well, there's a bit of a hog's back in the middle of the green and you want to be getting your approach to the hole. Anyway, he was between a six and a seven iron, I talk him into a six-iron and he hits a nice shot. We get down there and he's two or three feet over the back of the green but where the pin is, at the back left, it's actually the perfect place to be as you've got a nice little chip straight up the green. You know, we're talking Seve Ballesteros here, he's going to be p****d off if he doesn't chip it in. Anyway, he gets it semi-clean and chips it eight foot past and it's one of those, you're down on your knees at the back of the green just praying that he holes it because you know what's coming if he doesn't. Sure enough, he misses it and before we've got off the green he's chewed my left ear out, my right ear out and ripped me head off. He's just giving it to me 10-0. We're walking off the green, I've had it three times already and before we get to the crowd before you walk through the gallery to the 18th green he's stopped, turned round and he's started having another go at me. "How many times I tell you it's the wrong club, you son-a-ma-bitch" and all this, you know. I can feel myself bubbling up and I'm ready to lose it. So we get to the 18th tee and I just remember thinking if he has another go here I'm just going to lose it. So we're stood on the 18th tee, Ray Floyd tees off and before Seve pegs it up he's had another go at me. "Billy. It's the wrong club. You cost me" and all this. Well, this rush, this tidal wave came up through me and I promise you I screamed at the top of my voice "I (expletive) heard you. Alright?". They must have heard me at the green, never mind at the tee. I looked up and Ray Floyd and Steve Williams are just open-mouthed and they could not believe the way I'd spoke to him. Anyway, Seve just looked straight through me, hit his tee-shot and just stormed off. He didn't even wait for me afterwards, stormed off up to the clubhouse and then went on to the driving range and starts hitting a few wedges. Then he says to me go out and find out how far these wedges are pitching. So, I've walked down the range, 120 yards and these balls are pitching and as they bounce up I'm heading them! About 15 in a row and I'm heading them and I can hear the crowd laughing in the background. But I wasn't laughing, I'd absolutely gone. He'd driven me to the limit. Anyway, he waved me in and he took me to the side of the clubhouse and we had a little chat shall we say. I unleashed a barrage of abuse at him and told him what I thought and that was the last tournament I caddied for Seve. I got a call on the Tuesday morning saying I was no longer required. I was told you can't speak to a superstar, champion like that so that was it.

No regrets

I don't regret it. It was one of those things that had to be done. It had run its course, things had to change so I thought I may as well say what I really think and see how it goes. A couple of weeks later it was all best mates again but just for that week it was handbags at ten paces.It was the right time to go. He obviously never really hit the heights again after that. It broke the relationship but I was always great friends with him after that. With Darren Clarke Darren had a good chance in his first Masters in 1998. I think he had a putt on the 12th green from about 10 feet to be a shot or two off the lead on Sunday but he three-putted it and then threw in a bogey somewhere else. But he finished eighth and that was a really good effort in his first Masters. He also holed a 100 foot putt for eagle and got a couple of bits of crystal. Standout moment with DC Apart from that putt, it was probably on the 16th tee in the practice round when they skip it across the water for the crowd. The galleries are going "skip it, skip it" and Darren's got up there, nailed it and missed the water completely. It's gone into the crowd on the fly and nearly killed about three people. With Lee Westwood - near misses He played all the good golf in 2010. He deserved to win it, there's no doubt about it. He went out there tied for the lead with Mickelson and did everything right. It was just that Mickelson had one of those days. On the eighth Mickelson hit it deep in the trees, spat it out on the fairway and from there made birdie. On the ninth, 50 yards in the trees and got it up and down from an unbelievably tough spot for par with two great shots. Lee had hit two great shots to 20 feet and three-putted it. Then the 10th, Mickelson put it to where Bubba Watson put it in the play-off last year, deep in the trees, and somehow did what Bubba did and got it onto the green and made par. On the 11th he hit it deep in the trees and made par and then 13th is the shot everyone will remember. Mickelson's magical shot at 13 He was in the trees and was stood over it for what felt about 10 minutes. As he hit the shot and it come through the trees I remember looking up in the air and thinking "what the...". For me it was a kamikaze shot and looked set for the water, to be honest I never thought it was going anywhere else. But somehow it scrambled its way over and ran up to four foot. It's up there with one of the best shots I've ever seen. As I said to Westy, if he knocks this in I'm going to get down on my hands and knees and bow to him. As it happened he ended up missing it but still it was a big moment. Lee still had a couple of good chances after that. At 15 he hit two lovely shots, just off the back of the green. He chipped it four foot short and missed it and he ended up narrowly losing out. If Westwood had been faced with Mickelson's shot Firstly, without actually being over there and seeing the lie, it's hard to say for definite what I would have told Lee. I was 25 yards away so couldn't really see exactly where it was. But I'd probably have been saying just bump it down 20 yards short of the creek and chip it across and make your birdie that way. The pin where it was, back right, you can just feed it in off the ridge anyway and it runs towards the hole so I was shocked that Mickelson did what he did, especially with his short game. But that's Phil. He's exciting, like Bubba. They're the next generation of Seve's aren't they. They go for it, they're shotmakers and they're not scared to pull a shot off. It's exciting to watch and that's what the people want to see. Another near-miss with Westwood I actually think Lee's best chance was last year. He played unbelievable. He lost by two shots but he missed five putts from inside three feet and missed one from a foot on the ninth. He should have won The Masters last year. Westwood's bid for a first Major I think Lee's an unbelievable talent. He's a fantastic golfer, there's not many better players tee to green and all I've ever kept saying to Lee is keep doing the same things and your time will come. He's too good a player not for something good to happen to him on a Sunday in a Major. People put too much pressure on themselves in Majors. I'd like to go there and treat it as a bit of a laugh and a joke and treat it just like another week. You can talk yourself out of these Majors by trying too hard. He's moved to America and he'll get a lot more practice in, there's better facilities for chipping and stuff so I think he'll improve and hopefully them putts will drop for him. Shot-shape - does Augusta suit those who draw the ball? At the end of the day, if you're a great golfer you're going to shape the ball whichever way. There are some holes like the 10th and 14th where, yes, you would like to draw it but I'm not a massive believer in you having to draw the ball too much to succeed there. Favourite hole The 19th! You're always happy to put that flag in on the last green and escape with your job intact. It's the most physically and mentally demanding week of the year, undoubtedly. It's so undulating and such a tough climb. There are other great tournaments - the Ryder Cup is the most passionate and not a tournament like it atmosphere-wise - but at Augusta you're putting your brain through the ringer and it's the toughest week of the year for me. Come Sunday night you think thank god it's all over and you're just happy you've survived the week and hopefully you've survived with you job because there are always half-a-dozen casualties after The Masters. There'll be 50 guys trying to win but there'll be 49 coming away looking to blame somebody and the caddie's normally number one in the firing line. If it's not the caddie it's the coach, if it's not the coach it's the manager, if it's not the manager it's the wife. That's just the way it is, it drives you mad, Augusta. The bag to be on in 2013 If I could pick one to give myself the best chance of winning this year it would be Charl Schwartzel's. It's based on his results at the back end of last year and how he's started this year and I know his mental strength and attitude is tremendous. He'll carry that fantastic experience of winning two years ago with him if he gets in contention and I believe he will. * Billy is still recovering from a knee injury so won't make it to this year's Masters. He hopes to be back soon after Augusta.