Caleb

Surratt

Surratt first met Jon Rahm after qualifying as an amateur for a PGA event in January 2023, The American Express, and he grabbed the chance to play a practice round together.

Rahm went on to win the tournament and had obviously kept his eye on the promising young golfer’s progress.

When Surratt learned of LIV Golf’s interest, he jumped at the opportunity to turn professional and join the league for 2024.

“It happened very fast, probably much faster than most players have experienced,” Surratt told Fairway To Heaven, LIV Golf’s official podcast.

“From the moment of interest to the moment of receiving a call from Jon and receiving all the information from Mr Norman to then signing was around two weeks or less.

“It was just so much faster, there was no real negotiation, it was just a win win win on every side. I couldn’t have been more pleased.”

One proud observer of Surratt’s debut at LIV Golf Mayakoba was Brennan Webb, his University of Tennessee head golf coach.

“He is an incredibly special player and a special young man,”  said Webb.

“He was always a little bit different in his work ethic, in his passion and his belief in himself.

“I never had a doubt in his ability of being able to play at the highest levels, and certainly he has already proven that one weekend into his professional career.”

Surratt did have a personal battle with the 17th hole at Mayakoba, which he failed to par during all three rounds.

But his attitude on day three, where he walked away from a double-bogey on the 17th to birdie his last five holes – having started shotgun on the fifth – showed an impressive maturity from someone so young. 

“I was just telling myself we’re going to get this back,” he told Fairway To Heaven. “I’m not going to be shaken by any of this, it’s just that same stuff trying to go back to who I am and not going to get defined by the moment.

“There was negative thoughts for a split second, I was thinking I’ve already received so much backlash, so how much backlash is a 19-year-old going to receive when he loses for the team and finishes five over in his last couple holes, he’s not fit for this.

“I wanted to block out a lot of that negativity, I was done with it, I wanted to put my foot down, I wanted to grind and get it back and sure enough we did.

“I was just telling myself no more bogeys at the tee-box and then when I made that first birdie I was like, let’s go get the next one.”

Surratt’s best finish came at the very next event in Las Vegas with a T12 and although there was just one more top-20 placing in the remaining 11 tournaments, he ended the season safely in the Open Zone, 41st in the standings.

There were two more team wins to shout about too, at LIV Golf Miami in April and Nashville in June, as Legion XIII clinched second place in the season’s standings and fourth overall after the Team Championship finale in Dallas.

Surratt’s earnings from LIV Golf prize money were estimated at $2,718,150, but that wasn’t the whole story of his rookie year as a pro.

Surratt took the opportunity to play in the International Series, which comprises 10 elevated events from the Asian Tour.

While it offers a pathway to the LIV Golf League via rankings, it also provides existing players on the LIV roster the chance to compete in elite-level fields of 156 players for big-money purses.

Surratt made his International Series bow in Morocco in July and secured an impressive T3 around the Red Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, earning $113,000.

A month later at International Series England he was tied for second place with Andy Sullivan behind RangeGoats GC’s Peter Uihlein, boosting his 2024 prize money by another $173,000.

Surratt has a lot of admiration for his golf coach from the University of Texas. “Brennan Webb is a very overlooked coach in my opinion,” says Surratt.

“He makes competitors, he makes tough men. He has really helped form me into the person that I am.”

He was also quick to point to the inspirational leadership of Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm.

“There’s nobody tougher than Jon,” he says. “Sometimes I walk up to him before a round and I’m like ‘any thoughts for today, or just the same stuff, would you change anything today?’ and he’s like, ‘bro, it’s just the same stuff on a different day, that’s all it is’.”

“Sometimes that sounds shallow and that sounds like what you’d hear from your local pro from the driving range, but you know there’s magnitude to that if you really let it soak in.”

Surratt turned to experience for his bag man, poaching 20-year veteran Brian Dilley from Akshay Bhatia.

Dilley is a good friend of Adam Hayes, who just happens to caddie for Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm.

It seems to be the perfect partnership, with the rising young star Surratt being able to turn to such a knowledgeable hand for advice.

“I’m still learning, growing, and working on everything that I’m beginning to see what I need as a player in order to grow and be able to compete to the highest level, and I think Brian Dilley‘s going to be able to help me get to that point,” said Surratt.

“He has caddied at an extremely high-level for longer than I’ve been alive, and undoubtedly will be a great set of eyes to have on my golf game.”

In July last year Caleb Surratt got engaged to fellow Texas University golfer Kayla Holden and the couple got married in November 2024.

Caleb’s father Brent Surratt used to compete in the World Long Drive Championship and his impressive collection of special clubs at the family home in Indian Trail, North Carolina, made an impression on the youngster.

“They were taller than me when I started playing,” said Caleb.

“My dad used to go out and compete in Mesquite where the World Long Drive Championship was and it was kind of cool that the next time he was in Vegas was when I was playing there 20 years later.”

Although Surratt junior has kept close contact with Tennessee coach Brennan Webb, he can still turn to dad for advice.

“He was the one that took me out there for the first 10, 12 years of my golfing so he was full coach,” says Caleb.

“He still is a coach to me sometimes. He’s the guy I go back to because he’s not up to speed with all the new teachings and all that. He’s more like ‘keep it with the buttons on your shirt’ and ‘line up straight’ and stuff.”

Surratt’s parents Brent – now a Real Estate professional – and mother Lisa have raised four very sporty children.

Caleb’s brother Blake has made progress playing both soccer and golf, sister Taylor has committed to playing softball at Auburn University and the youngest of the family, Bayleigh, is taking the cheer scene by storm.