Caddie Quits PGA Tour Pro Mid-Round

Alejandro Tosti took off.

Late Thursday, the Argentine pro shared videos on Instagram of himself in a small seaplane over the mountains near Asheville, N.C. This occurred between the first and second rounds of the PGA Tour’s Biltmore Championship Asheville. Posts showed him preparing to board, his plane near a commercial jet, and aerial views. One clip documented his plane landing on a lake.

However, another departure followed.

Tosti’s caddie left.

Tosti and his caddie, Cliff Ellis, began the Biltmore Championship on the 10th hole at the Cliffs at Walnut Cove. After playing the back nine, events took a strange turn. Ellis stopped carrying Tosti’s bag on his ninth hole, as first reported by Golfweek’s Adam Schupak and later shown on Golf Channel.

Tosti had parred his first eight holes. According to Schupak, Tosti and Ellis had a disagreement during a Tuesday practice round that seemingly extended to Thursday. On Golf Channel footage, they were seen conversing as they neared the 18th green. Ellis then dropped Tosti’s bag in the fairway, removed his caddie bib, and departed. Tosti told Schupak via text that he believed Ellis had gone to a restroom on the 18th hole. Schupak also reported Tosti writing, “He couldn’t keep up with eight pars in a row,” followed by laughing emojis.

In his eight-year professional career, Tosti has been in the news. In March, at the Tour’s Valspar Championship, his caddie’s personalized bib read: “Need a wife.” In 2023, Tosti withdrew from a Korn Ferry Tour event due to what was termed “a disciplinary measure.” In 2024, Tosti and Tony Finau had a dispute over playing order at the PGA Tour’s Houston Open.

On Thursday, Tosti shot a 72, one over par. Golf Channel reported he enlisted a fan from the crowd to carry his bag for the back nine. As of Friday, Tosti was seven holes into his second round, still at one over, four strokes off the projected cutline. He had a new caddie, Patrick Talledo, on his bag.

Golf Channel’s footage of the incident is available.