Megan Schofill’s drive had landed just left of the 14th fairway in fine position, but the finality had already begun to hit her. There was extra pressure on the Auburn graduate student this week in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. She won the U.S. Amateur in August. She’s ranked as one of the top 10 amateur golfers in the world. And this would be her last time in this event. She’s only made the cut once in her other three tries. Now she’s in her final year at Auburn and a career in golf waits at the end of this summer.

Maybe that pressure to make one more cut faded into frustration.

Schofill hit her drive on the 14th hole still clearly frustrated from a bogey on the 13th. Her putting was poor on Thursday — tied for 66th out of 72 in the ANWA’s second round averaging two putts per hole and three-putting four times. The bogey on 13 was her fifth score of bogey or worse in a round where she shot 79, 7-over-par. She finished with a +8 overall score. She missed the cut by five shots.

“I kind of knew coming down the last six, seven holes, I had to make a lot of birdies,” Schofill said.

But the birdies weren’t there on a windy day at Champions Retreat Golf Club where only five players had rounds under par and as she walked to her ball on the 14th hole, Schofill knew it wasn’t happening.

So her caddie C.J. Easley wrapped his left arm around Schofill’s shoulders. His role is dual on a day like this. Easley is a golfer at Ole Miss. He wants to be a coach in the future.

He’s also Schofill’s boyfriend. He’s equal part golf guide and moral supporter. Schofill’s parents said it works because it’s a duo that loves golf — and each other.

But in a few months, these rounds in amateur tournaments and a return to college right after will be gone. In a few months for golfer and caddie alike, this will be their full-time job.

That’s a different kind of pressure. Then, for the first time, there’s money and far more real-life stakes.

“You don’t want to be looking at a four-foot putt and think we gotta make this or we’re not gonna eat,” Kerry Easley, C.J. Easley’s mom, said.

***

Schofill and Easley met as freshmen at Auburn in 2019 — Schofill on the women’s golf team, Easley on the men’s. They’d spend three years together at Auburn and have been dating for the last four years.

Before the 2022-23 school year, Easley transferred to Ole Miss. His mom had been diagnosed with cancer. The Easleys are from Oxford, Mississippi, so going to Ole Miss brought him back home.

When they could, he and Schofill would meet in Birmingham to play golf together or at each other’s schools. They played frequently together when both at Auburn.

But with Schofill’s time in college winding down and a likely pro career to come, the idea began to have Easley caddie.

The two’s personalities play well off each other. Schofill is intense. Her family all is. Bill Schofill, her father, always walks a shot ahead of his daughter — standing far down the fairway when Schofill drives and on the next hole’s tee box as she putts.

Easley is laid back. Schofill isn’t one to use all the modern analytics and technicalities. Easley understands those, and understands when to coach Schofill and when to be her boyfriend during a round.

That’s why their fairly unusual setup works. Often, players may have their significant other be their caddie on a one-off occasion. Schofill wants Easley to be her caddie professionally for all of her events.

It works because Schofill doesn’t want a true coach on the course. And Easley knows how to straddle that line.

“I think he really knows my swing tendencies,” Schofill said. “He’ll tell me, ‘Hey, that one looked like this, so just keep an eye on that.’ Stuff that really won’t stress me out. Knows my game. Knows my misses which I think is super helpful. Knows my limits and knows what kind of shots I can and can’t hit.”

But Schofill’s trial of using her boyfriend as her caddie didn’t start with much promise.

Easley’s parents said their son wants to coach college in the future and still hasn’t ruled out the thought of playing after college himself. But when he suggested caddying for Schofill, it seemed to make sense.

The two first worked together at the 2022 Sea Island Women’s Amateur. Schofill didn’t think it went well. Neither of their parents did, either.

But they tried it again for the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur. The idea, Schofill has said, was to essentially test run playing with Easley throughout this year to see if they could, in fact, work together as professionals.

And Schofill played a horrible practice round at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles.

A concerning starting, but then Schofill went on to win the grueling marathon of golf that is the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Their pairing together was sealed.

“I feel like we still work really well together,” Schofill said. “We get along super great. He’s always nice to have.”

They continued to work well together even through a difficult two rounds for Schofill.

In her first round, Schofill started on the back nine and made a double bogey on the 14th hole. Her parents say her drive there hit a tree, then the cart path and bounced far backward. It shook her. Schofill would also make bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes to be +4 for the tournament before even getting through her first nine holes.

At some point in that stretch, Easley’s father Jamie said the two had a “Come to Jesus” moment where Easley stopped her girlfriend, pulled her aside and helped calm the nerves and level her revving mind.

Schofill should shoot 3-under-par over her final 11 holes Wednesday. It put her in a position to make the cut with a solid round Thursday.

But it’s all a mental game. Schofill’s putting struggled in both rounds, statistically at the bottom of the field. It cost her. Schofill made six bogeys and one double bogey before her first birdie in large part due to missed putts.

She gave Easley a hug after, at last, making a birdie on the 18th to end the round and finish her final ANWA.

***

The Schofill-Easley bag has been a frequent topic in golf circles. Schofill has been asked about the two of them several times, especially since she won the Women’s Amateur.

Schofill’s trial run with Easley as her caddie is likely over and was successful. But off the course, they’re facing the question of a mom: How’s this going to work financially?

Schofill will keep her amateur status through this summer. Her win in the U.S. Amateur gives her exemptions into several major championship events including the Chevron Championship, the U.S. Women’s Open and the Women’s Open Championship — Easley will caddie for her in all of those events. If she turns pro before those events, she will no longer be allowed to compete.

But after the summer comes the awaited life change. Schofill plans to participate in LPGA Qualifying School (better known as Q-School) in hopes of earning a full LPGA tour card. She’ll also have the ability to compete in some LPGA events in hopes of earning a card that way, too.

There’s only so much money in that. Caddies and golfers all have their own agreements for payment and generally don’t discuss the terms. Often, there will be a base pay for the caddie and bonuses on top of that depending on the player’s winnings. Those bonuses are typically in the form of 5% to 10% of what the player won on a given week.

Though the size of the purses in women’s golf tournaments is rising, they still are far short of their male counterparts. The Players Championship offers the largest purse in men’s golf at $25 million. The largest purse in women’s golf is $12 million at the U.S. Women’s Open — a prize pool that has been quickly increasing, too.

The money golfers and caddies make is used on their travel expenses for tournaments on top of typical day-to-day spending. Professional golf is the dream, but not always glamourous.

Schofill will have sponsors too, taking some early pressure off as a new professional for both her and Easley.

Golf is all Easley knows and wants to do, his father Jamie Easley said. Golf is all Schofill wants to do, too. The parents are confident this can work. The player and caddie alike are excited to try it.

“It’s a pretty good bag to be on,” Jamie Easley said.

But Schofill’s still got a few weeks left of college at Auburn. She plans to enjoy them.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]