PGA Tour star reveals shock split from popular caddie
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This player-caddie relationship was one we thought would never end…
Say it ain’t so! Joel Dahmen and his caddie Geno Bonnalie have gone their separate ways, bringing an end to arguably the most popular partnership on the PGA Tour.
Dahmen has always been a hit with spectators, but Bonnalie became a fan favourite after the first series of Netflix’s Full Swing aired.
In it, Dahmen’s backstory and journey to the PGA Tour was one of the few highlights, with Bonnalie right at the heart of it.
On several occasions, Dahmen had to hold back tears when talking about his best friend and bagman. The letter Bonnalie wrote applying to work with Dahmen set him off before they were both in tears as Netflix captured them having a heart-to-heart while flying from one tournament to another.
They started working together nearly 20 years ago but as first reported by Matt Gannon, they have decided to split.
“Longtime friends and fan favourites Joel Dahmen and Geno Bonnalie have split working together,” Gannon wrote on X.
“It’s not clear who will be on the bag for Joel moving forward or if Geno will hop on with someone else.”
The news was later confirmed by Dan Rapaport.
“It was time. We had a great run,” Dahmen told Rapaport.
After struggling in 2024 and falling well outside the top 200 in the world, the early part of this year had been more positive for Dahmen.
Top-10 finishes at the Farmers Insurance and Mexico Open were a step in the right direction before he came close to clinching his second PGA Tour win at the same venue as his first. However, three bogeys to finish saw him finish in a tie for second at the Corales Puntacana Championship, a shot behind Garrick Higgo.
Whether or not that was the catalyst for the form that followed we’ll never know, but since that agonising near-miss he has failed to make the cut in six of his last seven starts.
In the context of that run, the decision to make a key change to his team seems sensible.
It continues the recent run of player-caddie splits. Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Tom Kim have all recently parted ways with their longtime loopers.
Morikawa picked up Homa’s ex-caddie Joe Greiner after he and JJ Jakovac split but that lasted a matter of weeks, with the two-time major winner taking on Billy Foster for the Scottish Open and Open Championship as he searches for a permanent replacement.
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Joel Dahmen and Geno Bonnalie have called time on their professional relationship.
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Joel Dahmen and Geno Bonnalie were one of the more popular player-caddie partnerships on the PGA Tour.
