Firefighter may be winning caddie at Augusta National Women's Amateur
Marie Jose Marin immediately clicked with Darren Woo, a 56-year-old father of five who works in nearby Columbia County.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Two weeks ago, local firefighter Darren Woo picked up a loop at Champions Retreat for a trio of Univeristy of Arkansas players who were in town for a practice round. Marie Jose Marin immediately clicked with Woo, a 56-year-old father of five grown sons and a grandfather.
She texted Arkansas head coach Shauna Taylor, who advised her lock him in. Caddies are always a crucial component at the Augusta National Women's Amateur , held over the difficult Champions Retreat for the first two rounds and iconic Augusta National for Saturday's finale. Woo works for the Savannah River Site Fire Department, while volunteering for Columbia County, and has caddied at Champions Retreat for six years.
After doing some quick research, he quickly realized that the 19-year-old Colombian on his loop was the reigning NCAA champion. He began following the live scoring from the ensuring Clemson Invitational, and saw that she won there too. Before long the pair were back together at Champions Retreat, talking about the smoke coming from a nearby controlled burn as a red-hot Marin shot up the board.
She heads into the final round of the seventh edition of the ANWA one stroke back of 17-year-old hotshot Asterisk Talley . "He's been pretty good in keeping me calm the whole week," said Marin of Woo. "I think it's been a key into my great game.