Golfers Ryan Fox (left) and Daniel Hillier in Paris ahead of the Olympics. Photo: RNZ
Traditional sporting rivalries have been put aside for the Paris Olympics, with an Englishman and a South African getting the full Kiwi treatment while they help a couple of New Zealand golfers.
Englishman Henry Tomlinson and South African Dean Smith are golf caddies and will assist Daniel Hillier and Ryan Fox at Le Golf National this week.
While many teams will have foreign coaches in their ranks, golf is probably unique in that there can be someone on the course almost competing for another country.
"Dean caddied for me in Rio in 2016 so he kind of knows what to expect," Fox told RNZ.
"I know it's a cool and slightly uncomfortable experience for him wearing the Silver Fern instead of the Springbok."
New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox (right) and his caddy Dean Smith at Royal Troon for the 2024 Open Championship. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
However the pair have plenty of good hearted banter about the sporting rivalry between the two nations.
"It's a little bit of pay back for me because I lost a bet to him last year over the Rugby World Cup final and had to wear a Springbok jersey at a pro-am in South Africa.
"I copped a lot of stick for that, and so he has to wear the Kiwi gear for a whole week."
Fox and Smith combined to win the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2023.
Meanwhile Tomlinson has helped Hillier in his progression from the Challenge Tour to the World Tour.
The pair have been together for a couple of years now and they celebrated victory at the British Masters last year.
"I'm not sure how he'll feel about wearing the Kiwi kit all week, Hillier said about his bag man Tomlinson.
"It's his first Olympics as well, so he'll be loving what is a special week for both of us," Hillier said.
The 26-year-old Hillier said Englishman Tomlinson had a very Kiwi way about him and that's probably why they worked well together.
"He's very relaxed and doesn't mind going with the flow, when we're out on the golf course he doesn't get fazed at all."
Hillier played the Paris course for the first time last year at the French Open, but said Tomlinson had a lot of experience there.
Daniel Hillier of New Zealand and his caddie Henry Tomlinson. Photo: AFP
The two caddies were treated to the full cultural welcome experienced by the rest of the New Zealand team.
Fox is one of just four men in the field who will be playing at their third Olympics.
The 37-year-old finished in a tie for 39th place at Rio 2016 and in a tie for 42nd at Tokyo 2020.
The Men's Olympic golf tournament starts on 1 August.
