Joel Dahmen will have best friend Geno Bonnalie back on his bag for The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass this week.
The two quickly became fan favorites following their appearances on the Netflix series “Full Swing.” However, they parted ways last July after Dahmen missed six consecutive cuts and eventually went on to lose his full playing status on the PGA Tour, saying that the duo wasn’t “making each other better anymore.”
They have remained close friends, with Dahmen saying they talk and text regularly.
Meanwhile, Dahmen has gone to a caddie-by-committee approach that has included longtime swing coach Rob Rashell and Oregon State men’s golf coach Joe Reehoorn, and he has enjoyed a strong start to the 2026 season. Dahmen is coming off a missed cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but played his way into the signature event with a T-9 at the Cognizant Classic and a T-7 at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Dahmen sits at No. 51 in the FedEx Cup standings, which is well inside the top 70 who will qualify for this year’s playoffs. The 38-year-old also played his way into this week’s 120-player field at TPC Sawgrass.
Bonnalie has been on the bag since October for 28-year-old Isaiah Salinda, who did not qualify for The Players. He told Dahmen that he would be available if he earned a spot this week.
“He asked me first and I said, ‘OK, you can do it,'” Dahmen recalled, per Golfweek. “I kind of like the caddie by committee. Chris Kirk did it for a long time. Basically, I know what I’m doing so I can use anyone who is not going to cost me strokes and is fun to hang out with. Hopefully I’ll have someone steady soon.”
Dahmen has made the cut in five of six previous appearances at The Players, including a T-11 in 2024. Could he envision a more permanent reunion with Bonnalie on his bag?
“He’s got the week off, it’s a nice purse and we’re renting a house,” Dahmen said. “I miss him all the time. We still spend a ton of time together. I was supposed to stay with him in Puerto Rico (last) week (until earning a spot in the Arnold Palmer). We are still best friends.
“The door is never closed between us. We still have dreams of being on the Champions Tour together and walking off into the sunset together but that’s still a long way off.”
