Getty Jon Rahm and his caddie Adam Hayes
Jon Rahm and his caddie Adam Hayes have been working together since 2016 and the pairing has been a very successful one so far. When Hayes began caddying for Rahm, he was ranked 126th in the world and now he has 10 PGA Tour wins. Hayes has been a professional caddie since 2000 and he lives in North Carolina.
Here’s what you need to know about Jon Rahm’s caddie Adam Hayes:
1. Adam Hayes Is From Florida & He Played Golf in College at the University of Central Florida
Congratulations to Jon Rahm and Adam Hayes on their victory in the U.S. Open! Well deserved! 🏆⛳
Hayes is from Rockledge, Florida, according to The Caddie Network, and he attended Brevard Community College from 1995-97 and the University of Central Florida (UCF) from 1997-99. He played golf for both colleges and graduated from UCF with a business degree.
According to UCF News, Hayes made his mark in collegiate golf at the school, as he “earned second team All-Atlantic Sun honors, as well as tied the then school record for lowest 18-hole score with 65.” He began caddying during his junior year, including for his friend Sal Spallone at the 1998 Amateur Public Links Championship at the Torrey Pines golf course.
After graduation, Hayes became a professional caddie on the LPGA tour for nearly four years, from 2000 to 2004. He then joined the PGA Tour in 2004, his LinkedIn shows.
2. Adam Hayes Began His Career as a Professional Caddie in 2000 & Said He Had to Work Hard to Make Ends Meet in Those Early Days
Hayes caddied for many professional golfers over the years but it wasn’t always easy at first. He told The Caddie Network that he made almost no money at the beginning. “We used to do this thing called ‘scores for floors’ when we had three or four caddies staying in our hotel rooms just to make ends meet and high score that day would sleep on the floor, and the others with lower scores would get the beds,” he explained. “We were three and four to a room just to make ends meet.”
In fact, he said when he was caddying on the LPGA, he was only making about $400 a week. Hayes has come a long way since then and caddied for many golfers, including Jason Dufner, Russell Henley and Ben Crane.
In an interview with The Caddie Network, he said he was blessed to work with some great professionals and they helped him improve as a caddie. “I was able to get better and better as a caddie and work for great players,” he shared. “All of that from guys like Vaughn Taylor, Jonathan Byrd and Russell Henley helped me to learn how to be in certain situations. They’re all great players. If it wasn’t for them, I never would have had this opportunity.”
Hayes shared with the publication that his greatest golf memory so far was from his caddying days for Byrd. He said they were at the 2010 Las Vegas Invitational and they were “in a 3-man playoff and on the fourth hole of sudden-death when he made a walk-off hole-in-one to win the tournament.”
3. Adam Hayes & Jon Rahm Both Said Their Partnership Works Well Because They’re Friends & Are Both ‘No B.S. Guys’
Rahm and Hayes have a really good partnership which they’ve both said is driven by their similar natures. They’re both very competitive and they don’t shy away from sharing their opinions. “I think the most important thing to understand with (Adam) is he wants to win as much as I want to win, and that’s the beauty of it,” Rahm said according to Golf Monthly. “Adam is amazing. I think what’s made it work so well early on, the best way I can say it is we’re both no-BS guys.”
“If you have something to tell me, tell me to my face, and it’s reciprocal,” Rahm continued. He said Hayes won’t hold back if he has something to share and Rahm does the same with his caddie. He added that beyond that, the two have a good friendship and chemistry and both have the drive and desire to work hard.
For his part, Hayes has said that he likes Rahm’s passion on the course and that his job as a caddie isn’t to try to change the golfer. “The best caddies are guys that just are almost like chameleons,” he told Golf Monthly. “They can read people’s personalities and learn their tendencies, and they don’t try and change people, and I’ve never tried changing Jon or anybody that I’ve ever worked for. Jon is who Jon is.”
In fact, Hayes said he got emotional when Rahm overtook Rory McIlroy as the No. 1-ranked player in the world back in 2020. He told The Caddie Network that he doesn’t usually get emotional but he did on that occasion. “It feels good, I’ve got to be honest,” he said. “I’m working for a player now whose main goal was always to be No. 1. When he achieved that last night, a lot of emotion came out.”
In the same interview, Hayes spoke about meeting Rahm and his wife Kelley Cahill for the first time and described the couple as “the most genuine, respectful, friendly people I’d been around in the golf world.”
He acknowledged that Rahm can be “passionate and fiery” but it’s never done in a negative way and insisted that Rahm is always respectful of everyone around him. “Some of the conversations we have, which I won’t get deep into, about family and societal things — the guy has a really good soul and a really good heart,” he shared, hitting back at critics who’ve labeled Rahm a hothead.
4. Adam Hayes Said He Disagrees With People Who Call Jon Rahm a Hothead
While Rahm has been called a hothead on occasion, his caddie says it’s a label that’s unmerited. He said Rahm’s passion for the sport has been twisted into that narrative and it’s the opposite of the person Rahm is. “There’s a saying I’ve heard a lot and guys say it all the time about a number of players: ‘That guy is a jerk on the course, but great off it,’” Hayes told The Caddie Network.
“I hate that saying,” he continued. “I think Jon has gotten a bad rap early in his career. They viewed the temper as Spanish passion. It’s what people made up of him.” Hayes said Rahm is simply competitive and while some people have judged him for his displays of anger or frustration, he has never done so and says he never will either.
Rahm’s caddie pointed out that instead of trying to change a golfer he’s worked with, he’ll always make sure to hold them accountable. He said there’s no point simply agreeing with the guys he’s caddied for because it won’t work long-term. “If you tell them everything they want then at the end of the day it might work for a little while, but then they might be like ‘geez man, why didn’t you tell me, what’s going on here?’” he shared with The Caddie Network.
Hayes said both he and Rahm hold each other accountable when there are mistakes and they know that the only way to improve is to face any issues or discussions head-on. That’s why Hayes said he feels as though the two have a great partnership.
5. Adam Hayes Is Married & Has 2 Sons & His Wife Works as a Real Estate Agent
Hayes is one of the top caddies on the PGA Tour and he was ranked as the eighth highest-earning caddie in 2017, with an estimated half a million in earnings, Forbes reported.
Hayes is married to Brandy Hayes and they live with their two sons in North Carolina. Hayes’ wife wears many hats, her Instagram bio states, as she’s a real estate agent with her own company, Brannic Properties, and also runs a farm, Stone Falls Farm. According to the farm’s social media page, they’re raising alpacas, chickens and plants.
Brandy Hayes’ LinkedIn bio says she studied art and graphic design at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she was on the track team. She also wrote that the Hayes family chose to settle down around Charlotte because they liked the outdoors and the proximity to Lake Norman.