07-05-2025
How an oil trader from Singapore ended up being a caddie for top English golfer Justin Rose
[SINGAPORE] It was a sleepless night for Ivan Wang as he tossed and turned on his hotel bed, wondering about his date with history the next day.
It was the eve of the US Masters golf tournament in Augusta, and Wang – an oil trader from Singapore – was handed the dream job of being the caddie for top English golfer Justin Rose at the Par-3 contest at the famed Augusta National Golf Club in the US state of Georgia.
The tournament – one of the four men's Major championships in professional golf – took place during the week of Apr 7, which was eventually won by Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy.
Even before daybreak that Wednesday (Apr 9), Wang – a member of Tanah Merah Country Club in Singapore, where he plays regularly – was already awake and raring to go.
After breakfast, he rode to the course in style, inside a limousine with a friend and colleague from England, who was the one responsible for arranging the caddie role in the first place.
Once they reached the venue, Wang walked past huge crowds to the Players' Room where he met up with Rose, who subsequently finished runner-up to McIlroy after a play-off.
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Said Wang of his encounter with the 44-year-old Rose: 'He was so down-to-earth. After we shook hands, I donned the white caddie uniform and was about to carry Rose's half-set to the first hole.
'Suddenly, he stopped me and told me to carry his full set, as he wanted me to have the real Masters experience of being a caddie. It was sweet of him to do this, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.'
Wang noted that while there were formalities and rules in the Par-3 nine-hole contest, everyone was there to have fun on the course, with some players even bringing along their wives and children.
'On the last hole, the caddie is slated to hit the tee-shot. But alas, I sent my shot into water, as I was just short on the 102-metre hole with Rose's 52-degree wedge,' said Wang.
The 40-year-old Wang, born in China's Shanxi province, studied Russian literature at Beijing Foreign Studies University and worked in Hong Kong before coming to Singapore in 2020.
The 13.9-handicapper picked up the oil trade business on the job and currently works for Gunvor Singapore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gunvor Group, a large independent commodities trading house headquartered in Geneva.
He travels frequently because of work and also goes on the occasional golf trip with friends.
But ticking off this trip to Augusta from his bucket list was the 'most amazing' one so far for the father-of-three who now plays once or twice a week at Tanah Merah Country Club.
His phone now has hundreds of photos and videos of him and Rose on the Augusta course that's famous for its azaleas, dogwoods and pine needles. Next on Wang's bucket list: To go back to Augusta one day and play a full round of golf on that very course.
