Banging out 150 pushups. Walking in grass in his bare feet. Singing a Disney song as he strolled the fairways. Recording a rap music video.
The week may have been the zaniest of Dean Emerson’s life. And one of the best.
A professional caddie since 2019, the Lowell resident was in the spotlight eight days ago when Patton Kizzire captured the PGA Tour event in Napa, Calif., the Procore Championship, by five shots.
It was the first time Emerson caddied for a PGA Tour winner. Kizzire took home the winner’s $1,080,000 purse after rounds of 66-65-67-70, his third tour win and first in six years.
“Sunday was great,” said Emerson. “Patton took care of business. I never really felt any stress. It’s the highlight of my PGA career, for sure.”
Sept. 15 marked the one-year anniversary of Emerson working with Kizzire. It was also Kizzire’s father’s birthday. And the 19th anniversary of Emerson being sober.
“All the stars aligned,” said Emerson, a former Lowell High School assistant football coach under Al Pare.
Emerson downplays his role in Kizzire’s victory. A gifted putter, Kizzire read the lines on all the putts. Which was just fine with Emerson.
“Lug ’em and scrub ’em,” he joked about his caddie responsibilities. “I knew the clubs were clean.”
“Patton took the putts and shots. I’m just there for a good walk and I’m trying to keep his head in the game, but take his mind off the game, if that makes sense,” the 54-year-old Emerson said. “You don’t want him stressing out over every shot.”
Winning the tournament ensured Kizzire an invitation to next year’s Master’s and PGA Championship. He had gone 176 PGA Tour events without winning.
“It’s life-changing,” Emerson said. “He made it look so easy and relaxed. He never gave the impression he was stressed at all.”
That’s where Emerson and Amiee Smith-Schuster came in. Smith-Schuster is a mental coach Kizzire recently hired.
On the Wednesday prior to the Procore Championship, Kizzire and Emerson took to the driving range. It was decided that every time Kizzire hit a shot to an exact number, Emerson would hit the ground and do 10 pushups.
When the session was over, Kizzire had hit 15 shots right on the number.
“I was a little sore Thursday morning,” a laughing Emerson said of his 150-pushup day. “Well worth it.”
On Thursday, the first day of the tournament, Smith-Schuster suggested Kizzire take off his shoes and walk in the grass. Kizzire, joined by Emerson, did so to become one with nature.
On Friday, Smith-Schuster had Kizzire hug a tree. (Emerson stayed out of this activity). On Saturday, she had Kizzire and Emerson singing “Heigh-Ho” as they walked between shots. The song is from Walt Disney’s 1937 animated film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
“She’s out there. Sometimes you just have to think outside the box,” Emerson said.
Smith-Schuster wasn’t done. With Kizzire holding a four-shot lead after the third round, Smith-Schuster let Kizzire and Emerson know she had written a rap sang. She sent instructions for them to perform the song, which Emerson recorded on his phone and sent to her before Sunday’s final round.
It was a week Emerson will never forget. Born in Lowell, he was raised in Merrimack, N.H. He was a three-sport star in high school and played football at Plymouth State. He didn’t take up golf until after college.
A former member at Mt. Pleasant, where his family has extensive roots, and Vesper, Emerson now is a member of a course in North Carolina, where he works in the lab diagnostics field.
Emerson caddied for Doc Redman when Redmen won a thrilling 37-hole battle to capture the 2017 U.S. Amateur Championship. His career as a pro caddie began two years later when he carried the bag of Andover native Rob Oppenheim.
In January 2023, Emerson was caddying for PGA Tour rookie Davis Thompson when Thompson finished second at the American Express Tournament. Eight months later, Thompson told Emerson he wanted to work with another caddie.
“It was kind of puzzling,” Emerson said.
Three days later he received a call from Kizzire. Emerson will walk side by side with Kizzire at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss., Oct. 3-6.
Emerson will carry Kizzire’s clubs and try to keep him focused. And if he has to bang out 150 pushups, walk barefoot through the grass, sing a Snow White song and star in a rap music video, well, he’s game.
