Michael Collins alleges that after the two nearly collided on a Chicago golf course, former PGA Tour player Daniel Chopra convinced his wife to fire him.
Michael Collins, a former caddie who is now an analyst, says he was fired by former US Open and PGA Tour player Daniel Chopra years ago after a heated altercation nearly broke out between them on the course.
Danny Chops and Collins got into a heated argument on a Chicago golf course, which ended with the caddie throwing down his bags and asking the Swede if he was ready to “go.” In an interview with PMT Commenter and Dan Katz for the Pardon My Take podcast, Collins discussed the “volatile” world of caddying.
“Oh cool man, you’re a caddie so you got guaranteed this and,” people said, quoting him. No, it doesn’t operate that way, man. After the first round, on a Thursday, I was fired. For caddies, there are no contracts or guarantees. You are also responsible for covering all of your own costs, including those for the rental car, hotel, food, and airfare.
It can become a little frightening, therefore, if you have a family at home and bills to pay and your boyfriend is missing four or five cuts in a row. When Katz then questioned Collins about why he had been fired that afternoon, he laughed uncontrollably and proceeded to discuss his falling out with Chopra.
He went on, “I was working for this dude, and on the golf course, me and him almost got into a fight. I was a caddie, so I literally put the bag down and asked, “You wanna go?” To start with, everyone I caddied for and I now consider friends were initially just people who seemed like a good fit at the time.
Daniel Chopra and I had a rough relationship at one point, so bad that I put the bag down in the middle of the tournament and asked, ‘Do you want to go right here, in front of everyone?’ I caddied for Daniel Chopra for maybe three months. I have to make you look bad in front of everyone, right?
“He sent his wife, Samantha, out because he didn’t want to do it face-to-face when it reached its lowest point ever—we were in Chicago and he shot six over while in the locker room. perhaps even terrified. “We’re going to make a change,” she said, and I thought, “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”
Collins joined the ESPN golf team after quitting his ten-year caddying career, where he now serves as a host and analyst for several of the network’s golfing shows. After finishing T24 at the 2004 US Open, Chopra went on to win his first PGA tournament in 2007 at the Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro, then another in 2008 at the Mercedes-Benz Championship.
The US Open begins at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina on Thursday, June 13.
