Peterborough postman to caddy for European golfing star Sergio Garcia

Mark Johnson will have a dream day when he caddies for the famous Spaniard at the Pro-Am event which precedes the British Masters in late September.

The Pro-Am is an informal competition with golfers playing alongside celebrities, and Mark will be inside the rope at Close House, in Newcastle upon Tyne, watching his golfing idol tee it up close by.

The 40-year-old from Glinton said: “I’m buzzing, but very nervous at the same time.”

Mark sent 206 tweets to Sergio starting from July 7 last year until last Saturday when he finally got the response he was waiting for, with the world number 15 replying: “Ok @markjohno6969 I think I found the perfect day for you to get a taste of carrying my bag & make your dream come true! Are you ready?”

Mark was brushing his teeth at 5.30am before work when Sergio’s tweet came through. He said: “I put my toothbrush back and started jumping up and down.

“My wife Alison and two boys Tommy and Oliver were asleep and I’m thinking ‘what do I do now’?”

Sergio has won many tournaments around the world and, although he has just missed out on winning one of golf’s four Majors, he is a legend in the Ryder Cup - the biennial contest between Europe and America.

Explaining what prompted him to send so many tweets to the Spaniard, Mark said: “Sergio Garcia has always been my number one golfer and I’ve always said what a dream it would be to caddy for that bloke, but how on earth do I do that?

“I decided to tweet him and then thought ‘why not do two, do three’. Then I kept it going.

“I was seeing where he was playing and a couple of hours before he was due to tee off I would tweet him all sorts. You do think, ‘does he see them?’ but he liked seven or eight of my tweets.”

Mark, who plays with a handicap of 13 at Burghley Park Golf Club in Stamford, said the highlight of the day will be “to get his driver out for him, to be inside that rope - two to three feet away - watching him strike that ball as he can. It’s going to be an unbelievable day.

“It’s the stuff dreams are made of. I’m just hoping Sergio can win that Major he’s been so close to winning in the past so I can say I caddied for a major champion!”

Sergio told dubaidesertclassic.com it will be “good fun” getting to know Mark.

He said: I thought it was quite funny and it was very sincere, and obviously I was wondering how long it was going to keep going. Some of the tweets he posted were quite funny.” He added: “I’m sure [the day] will be a great experience for him.”