It was the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Ruoning Yin had just hit a birdie on the final par-5, 18th hole to clinch the victory at the major. However, the interesting part is that the golfer did that with a caddie she had only known for a few events and would only do so for a few weeks more. Yes. that’s right… The golfer teamed up with another looper soon after. Enter David Jones, the LPGA Tour Pro’s current bagman.

The major win at the Women’s PGA Championship was the athlete’s second victory of her LPGA Tour career. However, a year later, she was also able to claim another win at the DoW Championship alongside Atthaya ‘Jeeno’ Thitikul to mark her third triumph on the women’s circuit. She managed so much through a lot of help from Jones, who joined hands with Yin at the end of 2023.

Meet David Jones, Ruoning Yin’s caddie

Born and brought up in Derry, Northern Ireland, Jones had turned to caddying in 2014. He started by carrying the bags for a friend for a whole year on the European Tour (now known as the DP World Tour). This, in turn, led to him loving the job and choosing it as his profession. Since then he has helped carry the bags for many renowned golfers, including the likes of Lydia Ko, In Gee Chun, Sung Hyun Park, and Leona Maguire, while also temporarily doing so for Esther Henseleit.

He has managed to rake in some success in his job as a looper. He was the person on the bags when In Gee Chun won the 2016 Evian Championship and when Sung Hyun Park emerged victorious at the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open and the 2018 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Impressive, to be honest, having three major titles to his golfers’s names. But that hasn’t stopped him from having his share of failures as a caddie.

The unfortunate Solheim Cup story of Yin’s caddie

It was the Friday Foursomes of the 2024 Solheim Cup when Esther Henseleit heard the unfortunate news. Her longtime looper and boyfriend were unable to caddie for the golfer following which he informed her of his decision on Friday morning. What happened after that? Well, the European was forced to make a last-minute caddie change to join hands with David Jones, the Northern Irishman.

The result wasn’t to the German professional’s liking at all. She and her caddie faced defeat at the hands of Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz despite being paired up with Charley Hull, with figures of 3 & 2. Although she would go on to win the Saturday Foursomes against Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho, 1 Up, and tie the Sunday Singles against Andrea Lee, the loss they suffered on that day would forever haunt her.

Had she and Jones managed to put on a better performance, then the European squad wouldn’t have had to lose to the American squad. But fate had other plans as the Suzann Pettersen-led team suffered defeat at the hands of the Stacy Lewis-led squad, 12.5-15.5. Even so, the loss wouldn’t possibly make him hate the job since the moments of victory trump those instances of defeat for Jones.

Ruoning Yin’s looper, David Jones, and his love for caddying

If you were to ask David Jones about what he loves most when caddying for a golfer, then he would talk about how he is all for the moment of victory. “I love being right there in the mix coming down the stretch with a chance to win,” said David in an interview with the Professional Ladies Tour Caddies Association. “It’s the next best thing to coming down the stretch as a player.”

That’s not all. The caddie also has some favorite golf courses that he would love to play or carry the bags in. When asked about the same in the interview, he replied, “Royal Portrush and Pebble Beach.” Seems like a few losses wouldn’t hamper his dedication and grit in helping his Chinese LPGA Tour Pro clinch some victories. The fans just need to wait, for they might probably witness him helping her climb the golfing ranks.