'Edinburgh Jimmy': Why winning Ryder Cup captain was in Prestonpans on a dreich winter night

Paul McGinley, though, was there through “loyalty” to the man he’d walked fairways with on what is now called the DP World Tour at his side and left the Irishman with a rich bank of funny stories.

Tranent man James Rae, or, as he was affectionately known in golfing circles, ‘Edinburgh Jimmy’, died just over six years ago. McGinley covered all the funeral expenses and also had a cord at the funeral.

He has remained in touch with Rae’s sister, Ina Watters, and also his niece, Andrea Mann, having joined fellow players, including Stephen Gallacher, Stephen McAllister, DJ Russell and Andrew Oldcorn, along with a posse of caddies to give ‘Edinburgh Jimmy’ a fitting send off.

McGinley’s return to East Lothian was a further act of how golf has a capacity to create special bonds and, though it has been besmirched by greed in recent years, there are still those around who will always cherish the game and its values.

‘Loyalty goes a long way with me’

A book about Rae entitled A Belter of a Caddie has been written by Colin Ramsay, an Edinburgh man who now lives in Fife, and McGinley, who has penned the foreword and also shared his memories of Rae in a separate chapter, made the journey from his home in Sunningdale especially to be at its launch.

“Loyalty goes a long way with me,” Europe’s Ryder Cup-winning captain at Gleneagles told The Scotsman. “As much as though Jimmy was gruff and as much as it was tough love with him due to the fact he would never show any sign of weakness, behind it all he was the most loyal friend anyone could have.

“And it’s not just me who would say that. You know, the Robert Lees, Mark Roes, Ian Poulters would all say the same thing. Anybody he worked for and who treated him well, the loyalty came back 100 times over.”

Billed as a “no holds barred narrative of Jimmy’s life”, McGinley is joined by the likes of Lee, Poulter, Russell, Oldcorn and David Drysdale in sharing their memories of Rae. “He was an outstanding caddie, loyal friend, but, most of all, the most humorous son of a gun I ever met,” declares McGinley, who had him on his bag for about 18 years. “He had a nickname for everybody and often a story to accompany it.”

Poulter came across Rae early on in his professional career. “He would give you his last £5. He was just an incredible human being,” observes the Englishman. Concurring, McGinley adds: “He always looked after the South African caddies with loans of money or standing up for them to players who weren’t treating them right. Jimmy hated injustice and helped them fight their corner. They loved him for his outward show of affection and courage.”

‘Jimmy knew how to enjoy himself’

It was no secret that Rae liked a drink or three at the end of a working day, with vodka being his tipple. “Jimmy knew how to enjoy himself,” says Oldcorn, “but always presented himself well when at work. His reputation was everything to him.”

A common thread in most of the chapters is that absolutely no-one was out of bounds on the range when Rae was around. “Jimmy was blunt and direct, but he was that way with everyone and no malice was intended,” notes Drysdale. “He didn’t do favourites; everyone was the same to him no matter their reputation in the golfing world.”

In a lovely chapter, American Peter Teravainen recalls how he was in the “biggest slump of my career” and “definitely going to lose my card” when ‘Edinburgh Jimmy’ picked up his bag for him in the Czech Open in 1995. “Somehow, he was going to get someone who had never won in 15 years on tour, who was coming off injuries and had missed 15 cuts that year, to the winner’s circle,” he remembers. And he did, getting, in the player’s own words, the “hopeless” Teravaian across the finish line in first place.

At an event hosted by Eric Davidson and with Damian Moore and Ritchie Blair - both caddying colleagues of Rae’s on the DP World Tour - among those in attendance, McGinley regaled guests with numerous stories about Rae, many of which were perhaps not suitable for being down in black and white.

Edinburgh Jimmy’s legacy is ‘alive and well’

McGinley may be known these days by a worldwide audience through his TV broadcasting roles with Sky Sports Golf in the UK and NBC/Golf Channel in the US, but, no matter how many new friends and acquaintances he comes across, there’s no denying that the man he appointed as head caddie master for the 2014 Ryder Cup and doubled up as the “entertainment officer” for Team Europe at Gleneagles will always hold a special place in his heart.

“Legacy is a word often overused; everybody leaves some kind of legacy behind them, some more than others,” he writes in his foreword. “Having played the tour for over 30 years, stories of older players and caddies are part of the tour’s fabric; they live through the recollections of current players and caddies before they slowly fade and die.

“One of the most charming aspects of still being around the tour is how the legacy of ‘Edinburgh Jimmy’ is alive and well, often through stories of him, but mostly through his one-liners. As I walk the ranges of DP World Tour events, I am often shouted at through Jimmy’s sayings - ‘heavy heid’ being the most popular one.

“All the old caddies want to recount stories or add another one that has come to mind since they last saw me. I never tire of hearing his stories, no matter how many times they have been told.”

* A Belter of a Caddie written by Colin Ramsay is published by Portskerra Publishing with the help of Indie Authors World. £9.99