Is there a dentist on the course? I need a caddie

Tardy caddies and their emergency replacements made the news in the second round of the Cannes Open on Friday.

Leader Henrik Bjornstad of Norway had to use the British professional Richard Sorrell's son Jack, 12, when a local caddie he used for the first round failed to show.

Despite the schoolboy having to wheel the Norwegian's clubs around on a trolley, Bjornstad retained his focus to shoot a 68 which earned him an early two-shot lead on 11-under-par 133.

"We talked a lot and he handled himself pretty well," said Bjornstad. "I'll be using one of the European Tour professional caddies for the weekend, though, because trolleys aren't allowed."

Joint second-placed Wayne Riley's caddie also failed to show up, so professional Sorrell, a former coach to the French national team but now helping to organise the hastily scheduled Cannes event, delegated a club member to take on the bag.

Riley was so satisfied with his emergency replacement despite early teething problems, he plans to used him at the weekend when trying to win his third European Tour title.

"I fixed Wayne up with Pierre Seneca, who is a dentist with a handicap of 17 and he's a bit of a madcap," said Sorrell. "Just like Wayne, so I'm not surprised they got on well together."

Seneca, though, did not have the best of starts to his new career.

After accidentally knocking over Riley's bag and scattering his clubs, he then spilled a water bottle all over them and had to dry them out before the Australian took to the tee.

The most famous act of tardiness by a caddie came two months ago when Irishman Myles Byrne failed to show up for Ian Woosnam in the Scandinavian Masters final round, two weeks after the infamous 15 clubs incident which cost the Welshman his chance of winning the British Open title.

In a further twist to the caddying story in France this week, 1997 Ryder Cup Spaniard Ignacio Garrido had his seniors tour father Antonio on his bag again as he shared sixth place in Cannes.

The pair have exchanged duties because Ignacio used to caddie for his father, who won five times on the main tour and became Severiano Ballesteros's first Ryder Cup partner when he was a teenager.