If you pay close attention to the player/caddie pairings on the PGA Tour each week (we sure do!), you may have noticed that Abraham Ancer has recently been without his longtime caddie, Dale Vallely.
Vallely has worked for Ancer since the summer of 2016, including a trip back to the Korn Ferry Tour in 2017 and his incredible rise in the Official World Golf Ranking, which landed him a spot on the International Team at the 2019 Presidents Cup.
But Vallely hasn’t been working for Ancer since a T5 in the American Express back in January – to date – Ancer’s best finish of the 2021 calendar.
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And from what The Caddie Network has learned, it’s because of a visa situation Vallely is dealing with back home in Canada that has him sidelined indefinitely.
In three starts since Vallely had to take this break, Ancer has employed the services of veteran caddie Dean Elliott (missed cut at the Genesis Open), Roberto Diaz who won on the Korn Ferry Tour over the weekend (T18 in the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession) and finally coach JP Solis (T22 at the Players).
This week in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship at Austin Country Club – and for the foreseeable future – veteran Benji Thompson will be on Ancer’s bag.
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Thompson left the bag of Lexi Thompson (no relation) late last summer for a job with Kevin Chappell on the PGA Tour. Benji Thompson had previously caddied on the PGA Tour for Ben Martin and Casey Wittenberg. His last appearance this year with Chappell came at the ATT Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
“As far as I understand, it’s a visa issue, but I don’t know any of the details,” Thompson told TCN of Vallely’s situation. “I’m committed to Abe as long as it lasts.
“I am super excited about the opportunity to work for a world-class player and such a nice guy,” Thompson added. “I’ve really enjoyed our two days of practice and we are ready to get after it this week.”
Ancer faces Bernd Wiesberger in his first match at 11:36 a.m CT on Wednesday.