Justin Thomas Had to Sub out His Caddy for The Masters at the Last Minute

The Masters is one of the most high-profile sporting events in the world, and it's definitely the biggest show in golf. Justin Thomas, a two-time PGA champion, is just one of the golfers competing in the tournament, but he's already gotten some attention because he isn't able to use his regular caddy.

Following the news that Justin was using an unfamiliar caddy during such a high-profile event, many wanted to know more about why he had a new caddy. Here's what we know.

As Justin explained in a post on his Instagram Stories, his regular caddy, Matt Minister, is nursing a sore back. As a result, he partnered with Joe Greiner, who just split from Max Homa before the Valero Texas Open.

“Unfortunately, my caddie Rev hurt his back this week and isn’t able to be on the bag with me this week at Augusta,” Justin explained. “Rev is resting up son he gets better soon [sic]. I’m very lucky Joe Greiner is a great friend and able to help me out last minute.”

Prior to working with Matt, Justin had partnered with Jim “Bones” Mackay, but the two parted ways in 2024, and Jim returned to working with NBC and The Golf Channel. Matt took over for Justin at last year's Masters. Joe, meanwhile, had won six PGA championships since 2019 while working with Max. Max's announcement that their partnership had ended came just in time for Justin to swoop in and take him, at least temporarily.

“It was not my choice so it sucked, but we always had a deal that we're friends first and friendship mattered more than the work thing, and he was wise enough to do what he did,” Max explained. “It's hard. I'm just so used to him caddying. And even just on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesdays, you just have this easy rhythm."

At the same time, though, Max was honest about how hard that kind of partnership can be on a friendship.

“But I was happy that he did it, because I would rather, you know, at the end of my days we continue to be great friends than one of us resent the other for how hard this game can be on a relationship," he continued. "So it sucks because I just pictured always walking fairways with Joe. But again, that's not, that was not the deal. I would rather walk life with Joe forever than this dumb game."

So Joe has a new partner, and so does Max, and that will take some adjustment on both ends. Although it may be a sad split for Max and Joe, the timing worked out perfectly so that Justin would have someone experienced to work with heading into the biggest tournament of the year. Hopefully Matt's back recovers relatively quickly, and Justin won't need to sub in a new caddy indefinitely. For now, though, this arrangement seems to work.