Caddy

Tired of looking at it collect dust in front of Nick Markakis' locker, Jeremy Guthrie decided to put Markakis' golf bag to good use. Before yesterday's game, Guthrie packed the bag with Markakis' bats, gloves and even a towel. Guthrie then walked out to the outfield with the bag on his shoulder to greet Markakis, who was warming up. As Guthrie tended to the bag like he was serving as Markakis' caddie, Markakis grabbed a bat out of the bag and started swinging and then leaned down and grabbed a towel from the bag to wipe the sweat off his brow.

Caddy tees up hope for golfer (Matt Damon, Will Smith) in The Legend of Bagger Vance (10 p.m.-12:30 a.m., TNT).

PROFESSIONAL golfer Bruce Fleisher was a pretty good sport, considering he had a Schmuck for a caddie and an armed escort during the final pro-am event at the Constellation Energy Classic at Hayfields Country Club. Fleisher warmed up for the weekend on Thursday by leading a foursome of heavy hitters that included Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (who brought along the security detail), future Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Constellation Energy CEO Mayo Shattuck and high-powered local attorney George Stamos.

Tom Watson's last trip to Baltimore for a golf tournament provided a bittersweet memory for the Hall of Famer, a five-hole playoff loss to Don Pooley in the 2002 U.S. Senior Open at Caves Valley. Watson has been back only once, but his ties to the city have become a lot deeper in the past two years. It had to do with the life - and ultimately the death - of his longtime caddie and close friend, Bruce Edwards, whose condition was diagnosed a few months after the Open as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

The gift registry forever revolutionized gift-giving. While, unfortunately, it took out the surprise factor, it also meant not having to deliver insincere thank-yous, not receiving four toaster ovens and not having to make multiple returns to stores. New to the gift registry business is the Home Depot. The home improvement retailer has just launched its online gift registry in time for the summer wedding season. The registry offers more than 9,000 items, including barbecue grills, ceiling fans, miter saws and pressure washers.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tom Watson remembered the day he heard from Bruce Edwards after his longtime caddie had learned that he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Edwards, whose disease had been diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic, tried to comfort Watson by using a golf term for a bad score. "When he got on the phone, he said, `Well, I just made a quad,' " Watson recalled yesterday, using the term for quadruple bogey. "That's how he brushed it off. I said, `Yeah, but we're going to get back to even par.' " Edwards, who worked for Watson for most of the past 30 years, lost his 15-month battle with Lou Gehrig's disease yesterday, dying at his home in Florida at age 49. Watson got the news as he prepared for the opening round of the 68th Masters.

GULLANE, Scotland - Colin Montgomerie hired a new caddie a little more than a month ago, hoping that Andy Prodger would bring him the kind of luck and magic that worked so well when Nick Faldo won the first of his three British Open titles here at Muirfield in 1987. Then Montgomerie dumped his old set of Callaways after shooting a 3-over-par 74 in the first round of the 131st Open on Thursday. If yesterday's round of 7-under 64 is any indication that making changes could be good for one of golf's long-suffering stars, who knows what might be next?

The Sun's Travis Haney spoke with Eric Schwarz, who has caddied for 23 years and been on Fuzzy Zoeller's bag since 2000. Q: What is it like to caddie for a colorful guy like Fuzzy? A: I've known him for 23 years, since I've been a caddie. He's a great guy to caddie for, a fun guy to be around. How can you not like him? He's the same guy off the course that he is on the course. He's a really likable guy. I mean, everybody out there loves him. I'm happy to have the job. Q: Since you had known him so long, how did the caddying job come about?

Clyde Goodrum learned how to play golf 45 years ago in secret. Each night at dusk, Goodrum - then a teen-ager - would walk the fairways of the whites-only country club where he worked as a caddy, practicing shot after shot. Today, the 60-year-old golf pro makes his living teaching the game he loves most to adults at My Golf Pro, his new Randallstown business. He also has spent this summer supervising a new city recreation and parks golf program for children. Goodrum said he never held out much hope as a young black caddy that he would one day make a living teaching golf.

Allen Doyle's caddie might be one of the least seasoned on the Senior PGA Tour. She's only 22, and began caddying for him full-time just last summer, after she graduated from college. But Doyle, second on this year's money list with $1,628,002 in 22 events, isn't too worried about her inexperience. "I've had as good a year statistically this year as any year, so it certainly hasn't shown that it's hurt me," he said. Even a setback might not prompt him to fire his caddie. After all, she is his daughter.