Colin Byrne looking forward to assisting natural talent Louis Oosthuizen

Colin Byrne looking forward to assisting natural talent Louis Oosthuizen

The Bagman has a new bag, and Colin Byrne - who has hooked-up with Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion and currently 24th in the official world rankings - is looking forward to assisting the golfing Springbok in his attempts to add further titles to his CV.

“There are different types of players in terms of raw talent and ability and then a lot of players who have worked very hard to get where they are. Louis has that raw, natural class and it is very hard to suppress it. He’s very aware of his game, exceptionally good, a great ball-striker,” said Byrne, a veteran caddie and Irish Times columnist who most recently worked with Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello and who numbers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen among his previous employers.

Byrne worked with Oosthuizen at the recent Farmers Insurance Open and Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour and will start a busy stint stateside at the upcoming WGC event at the Concession in Florida in a fortnight’s time.

“He has shot an awful lot of low rounds and I can see why. I mean, the round we had in the third round in Phoenix was an easy 63. It didn’t look that impressive because it looked so easy. He is the type of player who looks like he can keep it going low when he gets it going,” added the Dubliner, who hasn’t taken long since the mutual split with Cabrera Bello to get looping back onto the fairways and into the bubble that these days are part and parcel of tour life.

Byrne, indeed, has had a couple of what he calls “scares” during his time in tour bubble. Firstly, back in November, when he travelled from the Masters at Augusta to Sea Island for the RSM Classic, where his travel companion, another caddie, tested positive. “I tested negative and continued to test negative. But the doctor was telling me I was high risk so I stayed away. I said, ‘I’m not going to risk going in infecting everyone’.”

Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain celebrates victory with caddie Colin Byrne at the 2017 Scottish Open. Photograph: Getty Images

The second scare was more recently, when Oosthuizen had a false positive test on the Monday of the Phoenix Open but subsequent tests were negative, although he limited his movements - permitted to playing nine-holes alone on the Tuesday - and was permitted to play in the tournament, where he ultimately finished tied-11th.

“The bubble, they’ve dealt with it very well, (given) the amount of people they are dealing with and the speed which it works. You get your result within two hours, it’s pretty efficient, the test centre is close to the golf course, there’s a great app on your phone, which the results are sent back to, then get back to the test centre and show your negative results and you get a wristband to wear that says you have been tested and you are negative so you can get into the golf course.

“Without that, you don’t get in. The facilities have been better for us caddies since Covid because they have a special room for us, everyone spread out, and a lot of tournaments have done takeaway food at night for us so we are not tempted to go out to a restaurant, they have really made it the way you don’t want to go anywhere else and compromise anyone.”

Byrne’s upcoming stint takes in the WGC, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players - all in Florida - but, further down the road, there will be the US PGA in May where the player-caddie dynamic on tour will see something of a sea-change with the PGA of America allowing the use of range finders during the championship.

“I always thought from years ago as an old fashioned caddie I had a big advantage due to my preparation of making your own yardage book, doing your own work. It made it easier for everyone with the modern yardage book and, now, if they let you use lasers it makes it even more easy and takes away the preparation and the rewards for preparation . . . from a professional point of view, I would prefer if they didn’t do it because it takes away my advantage to my preparations.”

Don’t Forget To Take Your ‘Vuittamins! See Louis Vuitton Pre-Fall ’21 Collection Right Here

It’s evidently a case of no sleep for Nicolas Ghesquière, who not only designed his Pre-Fall ’21 offering in the middle of Louis Vuitton’s main collections, but also stepped behind the lens to photograph it. For the images, Ghesquière enlisted his friend, actress Stacy Martin, to best showcase the wares.

Energy is front and center, with the upbeat and optimistic collection, centered around three pillars: tech romanticism, energetic sportswear, and rediscovering essentials. In short, a color-saturated presentation that gives us the jolt of life we’ve been in need of—ergo, les vuittamins, if you will. Further adding a pep to your step like a triple-shot jolt of caffeine, Ghesquière suggests marrying the practical and the sophisticated, the urban with the delicate, and the romantic with the sporty.

In a release, Ghesquière said how he was inspired by his muse’s multi-faceted personality and ability to make any look her own.:“Stacy has innate elegance and an inspiring personality,” he said. “I have a lot of respect for her career path, her bold choices and the roles she takes on. I very much enjoyed photographing Stacy. So cool and laid-back, I love the way she wears my collections.”

Get ready to take some styling cues! See the full collection below:

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Saint Louis at Fordham odds, picks and prediction

In Saturday’s college hardwood action, the Saint Louis Billikens (9-3, 2-2 A-10) take on the Fordham Rams (2-10, 2-10) at Rose Hill Gymnasium in the Bronx, N.Y. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Saint Louis-Fordham college basketball odds and lines, with picks and predictions.

Saint Louis at Fordham: Odds, spread and lines

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 6:43 a.m. ET.

Money line : Saint Louis -3000 (bet $3,000 to win $100) | Fordham +1250 (bet $100 to win $1,250)

Saint Louis -3000 (bet $3,000 to win $100) | Fordham +1250 (bet $100 to win $1,250) Against the spread/ATS : Saint Louis -16.5 (-110) | Fordham +16.5 (-110)

Saint Louis -16.5 (-110) | Fordham +16.5 (-110) Over/Under: 127.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)

Saint Louis at Fordham: Three things to know

The Billikens have won nine of 10 games at home this season, but they’re 0-2 SU/ATS on the road. Saint Louis was favored in each of the two road outings, including an 82-75 loss at La Salle as a 12.5-point favorite Feb. 3. Saint Louis is 1-5 ATS in the past six overall. Fordham won its most recent home game, topping La Salle 76-68 as a 5.5-point underdog Feb. 6. The Rams are 2-3 SU/ATS in the past five games at home. They’re also a respectable 4-2 ATS in the past six, and 5-1 ATS in the past six as double-digit underdogs. These teams met last season Jan. 26, 2020 with the Billikens coming away with a 55-39 win as 14.5-point favorites. The Under (119) easily connected that day.

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Saint Louis at Fordham: Odds, lines, predictions and picks

Prediction

Saint Louis 68, Fordham 54

Saint Louis (-3000) has had two road games to date, losing both despite being the favorite each time. It’s a rather small sample size, but you can’t lay 30 times your potential return with a history like that. AVOID.

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FORDHAM +16.5 (-110) is a tough sell. The Rams have really struggled, not only this season, but for the better part of the past three decades. Fordham has won 13 or fewer games in a season 24 times in the past 28 campaigns. So, taking the Rams plus the points is really hard to do, but the way Saint Louis has played on the road, plus Fordham’s success as a double-digit dog makes the Rams the play here.

UNDER 127.5 (-110) is the lean here as Fordham has really struggled to score the basketball. The Rams rank 347th in the nation with 53.0 points per game. The good news is that the Rams are decent defensively, allowing 67.6 PPG. We should have another low-scoring game in this series.

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