Golf: Caddie faces trial for Olazabal: Masters champion ends partnership after money dispute

THE NEW caddie of Jose Maria Olazabal, the Masters champion, goes on trial in the Italian Open, which starts tomorrow, and will not not know if he has the job permanently until after next week's Volvo PGA Championship.

The Irishman, John Mulrooney, a 25-year-old from Bray, near Dublin, who previously worked for new Scottish professional champion, Andrew Coltart, links up with Olazabal at a time when the world No 7 is far from happy with his game.

Olazabal revealed on the eve of the Rome tournament that his eight-year partnership with the Scotsman Dave Renwick was over because of a dispute over money following his victory at Augusta last month.

Olazabal has so far earned pounds 484,000 this season and had been paying Renwick a basic wage, plus seven per cent of his winnings after tax.

But Renwick stayed away from last week's Spanish Open because he was unhappy with his share of the money and Olazabal's manager, Sergio Gomez, was left to carry the bag.

'I phoned Dave and asked him to come to Madrid to discuss the problem,' Olazabal said. 'We had the same thing 18 months ago and it was solved over dinner.

'But this time he never gave me the chance to talk to him and his making a statement to the newspapers didn't help.

'He has won quite a lot of money in the last six weeks and he did a good job at Augusta, but our relationship is over.'

Olazabal remains favourite for the pounds 75,000 top prize at the Marco Simone course. Mark James, Barry Lane and Costantino Rocca are the other Ryder Cup players in the field, while the defending champion is the New Zealander, Greg Turner.