‘Edinburgh Jimmy Rae’ is hailed by Damian Moore for Ryder Cup role

Fellow caddie reveals how much support veteran gave to his colleagues

Edinburgh Jimmy Rae and Paul McGinley joined forces for 18 years in total, starting out on the European Tour and finishing up on the over-50s Staysure Tour

Damian Moore reckons Paul McGinley pulled off a masterstroke behind the scenes when he included ‘Edinburgh Jimmy’ Rae in his backroom team for the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

Tranent man Rae, who died suddenly last week aged 66, was the European team’s caddiemaster for the Perthshire clash, having been handed the role by long-time boss McGinley.

According to the Irishman, Rae was also his “entertainment officer”, helping “keep the mood light with his craic and one liners” in the crushing win over Tom Watson’s American side.

“It was my first Ryder Cup and he helped it be much more relaxing,” Moore, who caddied for Stephen Gallacher at the time, told the Edinburgh Evening News. “When I walked into the locker-room and saw Jimmy standing next to all the goodies, I thought, ‘this is just like normal’.

“He was there from 6am every morning along with Julian ‘the Ferret’ Philips and they helped take any nerves you had away with their banter.

“That came to me late in my career and I definitely felt relaxed thanks to those guys.”

Rae, who was with McGinley for 18 years in total, also worked for Ryder Cup talisman Ian Poulter, as well as John O’Leary, Rob Lee, Mark Roe, Mark Davis and American Peter Teravainen.

“Jimmy was a tough man but also had a heart of gold,” added Moore, who lives in Gullane. “I started in 1987 and he was one of the main characters out there. There was him, Dave Renwick and a guy called ‘Captain’ Kirk.

“The three of them were quite intimidating, to be honest, and being a rookie they didn’t take to you straight away. I was speaking to Mick Donaghy, who is with Tyrrell Hatton, about Edinburgh Jimmy and said that the

young caddies nowadays would have been eaten alive by these guys.

“They are all very chirpy after six weeks out on the Tour whereas it took a couple of years before I felt accepted.

“Jimmy knew his stuff and was so confident. I can appreciate how later on his career that he wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

“You get guys out there who almost want you to be a butler whereas Jimmy would still speak up and give his thoughts.”

Like many other in the golfing world, Moore has a chuckle when he recalls some of his stories about Rae. “I was out in the same group with him a couple of years ago and we had a rookie in the group – I think he may have been Scandinavian,” he recalled.

“They were walking a wee bit ahead of me and I was ear-wigging. We were on the seventh hole and the guy said to Jimmy, ‘have you been out here long?’ In a flash, Jimmy replied, ‘Aye, about two hours... now hurry up! I don’t think the guy hit a golf shot the rest of the round!”