Tommy Fleetwood’s caddie, Ian Finnis, has raised £10,000 (US$12,300) to help his fellow European Tour bagmen whose earnings have been affected financially due to golf’s suspension amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tour has either postponed or canceled events scheduled between last and next month. The Open Championship has been scrapped this year, while the other three majors — the Masters, PGA Championship and US Open — have all been postponed.
Fleetwood has five European Tour victories, including last year’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa, and has earned more than 18 million euros (US$19.54 million) in prize money during his career, the European Tour Web site showed.
Finnis, who has worked with the English golfer since 2016, on Tuesday said on Twitter that he was selling 1,000 raffle tickets at £10 each, with all proceeds going to benefit caddies.
The prizes included flags from Europe’s Ryder Cup team, a hat autographed by Fleetwood and tournament caddie bibs.
Four hours after launching the drive, he said on Twitter that it had already met its target.
“Please no more donations,” he wrote. “Unreal from the golf world 1,000 tickets sold in four hours, £10k donations.”
“Was expecting it to take a lot longer!!! Thank you to all that donated,” he added.
Finnis said on a GoFundMe Page he set up for the drive that it was a “tough time for everyone.”
“Some caddies will really be feeling this, with families and possibly no wages for three months so auctioning what I can to help them out,” he said.
“Me and my family struggled early on in my caddying career, so I know how hard it is at times and especially now,” he added.
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