Michael Greller, caddie for Jordan Spieth, hoping for more Masters magic

Ten years after helping Jordan Spieth win the Masters and the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay in University Place, Michael Greller, the middle school teacher turned caddie, is still carrying Spieth’s bag and spending time at school.

On weeks when Spieth is not competing, Greller returns to his home in Gig Harbor, helping out in the classrooms of his two children.

“They’re in first grade and kindergarten, and I get in there for about an hour a week and help out with whatever the teacher needs,” said Greller, 47, who is thinking about working as a substitute teacher this fall.

Greller said recently that his family will be with him this week at the Masters in Augusta, Ga., as Spieth tries to recreate the magic he had in 2015 when he led wire-to-wire to win by four shots.

A couple of hours after Spieth’s win at Augusta in 2015, Greller and his wife, Ellie, shared a moment by themselves next to the 18^th green. There, they marveled at all that had happened since 2006 when Greller became a caddie by chance.

Greller, a former college golfer, was watching the U.S. Amateur Public Links at Gold Mountain’s Olympic Course in Bremerton that year as a fan. When he noticed Florida State University star Matt Savage was carrying his own bag, Greller offered to carry it for free.

Savage birdied the first hole after taking up Greller on his offer, and they made it to the quarterfinals.

When Chambers Bay opened in 2007, Greller started caddying there on the weekends.

In 2010, Justin Thomas — on the recommendation of Savage — asked Greller to caddie for him at the U.S. Amateur at Chambers Bay. The next year, with Thomas helping set it up, Greller caddied for Spieth when he won the U.S. Junior Amateur at Gold Mountain for his second straight win in that event.

In June 2012, Spieth asked Greller to caddie for him at the U.S. Open. Spieth finished tied for 21st, the best finish by an amateur, then turned pro in December of that year.

Spieth’s father, Shawn, asked Greller if he would be Jordan’s full-time caddie. Greller accepted, taking a year’s leave of absence from his teaching job. The rest is history, with Spieth ascending to No. 1 in the world in 2015, and winning 13 times on the PGA tour, including the two majors in 2015.

“In 2012, I was still a sixth-grade schoolteacher, caddying in the summer out of Chambers Bay and that same year I won a lottery to go to the Masters as a patron at the Masters that Bubba [Watson] won,” Greller said. “Then, two years later, I’m caddying for the guy that’s in the final pairing with Bubba, with Jordan leading the Masters going into the back nine. Then the next year, Jordan wins the Masters.”

Spieth has won 13 times on the PGA Tour but has not won since 2022. Last August, he underwent surgery on his right wrist to deal with a nagging injury. It had bothered him since 2017 but got worse in 2023, when he was playing with his son in the pool and he felt something pop, he told reporters last year.

Spieth returned to action in February and has two top-10 finishes this season. He has had great success at the Masters, winning in 2015 and finishing in the top four six times in 11 years.

“He’s coming off a pretty major injury that’s affected him for a few years, and it’s not allowed him to get to positions in his swing,” Greller said. “But now he’s starting to get healthy with his wrist, and he’s starting to access parts of his swing he hasn’t been able to in quite a while. It’s coming, the Jordan Spieth moxie. He’s always going to have that knack for the moment, and now what’s catching back up are the mechanics and the swing.

“So it’s just a matter of time before all that is put together and he wins a tournament. Hopefully it’s in a couple weeks at Augusta. It would be pretty cool on the 10-year anniversary. But I’m very hopeful and optimistic for what’s ahead.”