Delco’s Braden Shattuck brought his 18-year-old Philly caddie along for his PGA Championship ride
Constitution High School’s Beau Rivière isn’t just the youngest caddie in the field, he’s also a three-time Public League golf champion.
Beau Rivière learned to caddie before he learned to golf.
Generally, it goes the other way around. But Rivière’s father is a longtime caddie, and Rivière always wanted to follow in his footsteps. Of course, it wasn’t long before he fell in love with the game and dedicated himself to improving.
The 18-year-old took to it quickly and won three Public League championships, including in the fall of 2025, during his senior season at Constitution High School. He also parlayed those lessons into his biggest caddie opportunity yet — on the bag for local pro Braden Shattuck during this week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square.
Rivière estimates that he’s known Shattuck for about three years, but they only teamed up a year ago, after Rivière took a private lesson with the Aston native. Shattuck, the director of instruction at Rolling Green Golf Club, came back to him with a deal: He could pay for his lesson by caddying for him.
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“He knew me more as a caddie than a player,” Rivière told The Inquirer. “Once I took that lesson from him, I guess he saw something that he liked from me to caddie for him.”
They have since paired up for four tournaments, including last month’s PGA Professional Championship in Bandon, Ore., which qualified Shattuck for the PGA Championship. Now, at just 18, Rivière is the youngest caddie in the field at Aronimink Golf Club.
He said there was “a little bit” of impostor syndrome setting in for his first major championship, but he’s using it as a motivator to stay focused for the tournament.
“I mean, [Shattuck] just knows so much more than I do in pretty much every part of the game, so there’s definitely a little bit of that, ‘Why is he asking me?’” Rivière said. “But I think it reflects a lot on him, of how he’s always open to help and always open to learning more and really getting any information he can to help him elevate his game.”
For his part, Shattuck said during his media week news conference that Rivière was “probably one of our best caddies. I’ll selfishly say that.”
What makes the relationship between Rivière and Shattuck work? Rivière said it’s that he’s not trying to talk too much.
“The best time to talk is, obviously, it sounds kind of weird, but really it’s just when he talks to me,” Rivière said. “I don’t talk to him when things are going badly, honestly, because he has a good way of understanding how to self-correct. I just try and let him do his thing in those moments, as opposed to maybe trying to say something that could maybe even get him a little more over the edge.”
Compared to some pro-caddie partnerships, which often last decades, the duo’s four championships together are basically nothing. The days on the course for practice at the PGA Championship are some of Rivière’s first brushes with the best of the best, who’ve learned over the years how to best support their golfer.
Compared to the more relaxed atmospheres of caddying for members at Rolling Green or even the qualifying tournaments, the level of focus and professionalism at the PGA Championship is much higher, Rivière said.
“It’s more focused work,” Rivière said. “When I caddie for members, I can kind of zone out at times, just because it’s not as serious. But out there, I never want to zone out because it could be very costly.”
With the first tee time Thursday morning, Shattuck and Rivière hit the course bright and early, so Rivière wasn’t sure how many friends and family he’d have in the crowd. But they attended Monday’s practice round, and he’s hoping for a good crowd Friday as Shattuck tries to make the cut. Shattuck shot an opening-round 11-over 81 on Thursday.
“It’s surreal,” Rivière said. “It’s really fun. It’s a dream come true. It’s interesting to see how much older everybody is out there compared to me, but I like it because I get to learn so much from seeing people who have been there plenty of times and see how they do their thing.”
The 108th PGA Championship returns to Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square for the first time in over six decades.
You can watch Marcus Hayes and Jeff Neiburg preview the tournament on Gameday Central from Aronimink, and be sure to check out the PGA Championship Range Show from 12-2 p.m daily, starting Wednesday.
Whether you're going, watching from home, or just curious about what all the fuss is about, we've got you covered with our PGA guide and stories on everything from Aronimink's history and design, to what the players have to say about returning to the Philly area. We even made a golf video game so you can play the course and learn its secrets.
Get it all with our full PGA Championship preview. And follow the latest news and action from the course, right here.
