Tommy Fleetwood’s caddie Ian Finnis: “I feel lucky and grateful that I’m still here”

Tommy Fleetwood and his caddie Ian Finnis are reunited for the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon

Ian Finnis faced a fight for his life when a virus caused bacteria in his heart. Now he’s back caddying for Tommy Fleetwood at The Open.

Ian Finnis has caddied for Tommy Fleetwood since 2016, including at the 2018, 2021, and 2023 Ryder Cups, but has been off duty for most of 2024.

There’s a very good reason for that.

What began as a virus at the start of the year turned into a fight for life for Tommy Fleetwood’s popular caddie Ian Finnis as he was rushed into hospital for open-heart surgery.

Having helped Fleetwood lift his first trophy in more than a year at January’s Dubai Invitational, things quickly went downhill as the after-effects of the virus caused bacteria to get into a pre-existing hole in his heart and eat away two valves.

Fleetwood arrived at April’s Masters without ‘Finno’ and put his first absence since 2018, when he missed an event for the birth of his eldest son, down to a chest infection. But just a few weeks later, Finnis revealed the real reason for being away as he posted an update on his Instagram page.

“I feel very lucky and grateful,” he told me at The Open as he prepared for his second event back on the bag. “If I’m honest, at the time, I didn’t care how Tommy was doing or who was on the bag. I wasn’t missing being out here because I was too sick. I wanted Tommy to do well, obviously – I’d never wish anything bad on him – but it gives you a new perspective and I just wanted to get back to my kids, to see my kids properly again, because it was a frightening time.

“But once I knew I was going to be okay then it was never in doubt that I’d come back out (on Tour).”

Finnis, who lives in Crosby with his wife of 11 years, former England football goalkeeper and current TV analyst, Rachael Finnis-Brown, and their children, was full of praise for his surgeon.

“He was amazing. He fitted me with a metal valve and then managed to fix the other one. He was brutal but he was honest with me – just told me exactly what would be happening and it was clear that things were pretty serious.”

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Finnis’ sternum was cut open and his lungs moved aside to allow the surgeon to carry out his work (“trust me, you don’t want to know any more detail,” he smiles”), making for a long recovery period.

“I was in hospital for a couple of months and for the first four weeks I was on a drip every four hours.

“Then after the surgery they said I needed to stay in for five weeks but I was out after ten days. I was lucky because I’m very fit – most people who have this type of operation are in their 70s or 80s – and I’m in my early 40s. Now I just want to get on with life again.”

As he started his recovery, Finnis set this week as his target to the bag, but he went one better and was back at last week’s Scottish Open.

“Tommy didn’t rush me – quite the opposite. He wanted me to take all the time I needed. But I wanted to be back for The Open and wanted to ensure I’d had a week back on the bag so that Tommy could see I was fine and be able to fully focus this week.

“He was definitely more nervous than me last week,” he smiles. “I got a little scratch and he was worried about me. I scratched my armpit and he was looking at me, like ‘are you ok?’. I was fine, I just had an itch!”

It’s incredible to think that Finnis was fighting for life just a few months ago. Now he’s full of life again, back to being the larger-than-life character that has made him one of the most popular caddies in the game. “Hurry up, will ya? I’m starvin’,” the Evertonian beams as I dash to get my phone to record our chat following Fleetwood’s practice round at Troon.

While we were speaking, his ‘boss’ was addressing the press in the media centre and pondering whether his golf had been behind Finnis’ ill health.

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“I’m wondering if caddying for me caused him any issues and gave him heart problems,” he laughed.

“Look, yeah, it was a bit of a shock, and I think it does put things into perspective. I spoke to him most days through the whole process. Ian’s obviously very close to me, and he’s much more than a caddie to me. So, I think caring about him first and more than anything and his family always came first.

“For him to have got back this quick – I told him I didn’t think he had a chance really of caddying in these events – it’s amazing that he’s got back and done so well, and see how determined and motivated he was to get back to normal life.

“He’s done amazing. I think for him it’s been really cool, just the messages of support that he had, people from the Tour and everything texted him quite a lot. I think it was really lovely for him to see just how popular he is and what impact he’s had on a lot of people.

“I feel great for him that he’s come through it.”

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With his health back, Finnis is hoping he can help Fleetwood become the first Englishman to win The Open since Sir Nick Faldo in 1992. The 33-year-old has an excellent record in the final men’s Major of the year, finishing as runner-up to Shane Lowry in 2019, and T4-T10 in his last two starts.

“He’s playing well. Really well. He played beautifully last week but just didn’t score and he was very hard on himself. He’s looked great so far this week and he loves The Open. A win here would be very special and a great way to kick off being back.”

Whatever happens, after this week the pair’s attentions will turn to Paris and the Olympics, where Fleetwood will represent Team GB for a second time, hoping to improve on his T9 finish in Tokyo.

“Let’s get him the Claret Jug first, then we can think about the gold medal… and then I can retire. If he wins them both then I might not come back.”

If Finnis is to miss another event any time soon, then that’s a much happier reason.

About the Author

Rob Jerram – Digital Editor

Rob specializes in the DP World Tour, PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and the Ryder Cup, spending large chunks of his days reading about, writing about, and watching the tours each month.

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