Keighley’s Billy Foster has declared this year his best ever as a caddy – after starting it off by getting sacked!

The 43-year-old capped a fine campaign last weekend, carrying Lee Westwood’s bag as he marched to a stunning victory in the Dubai World Championship.

That saw Westwood crowned winner of the European Tour Order of Merit – now known as Race to Dubai – and win a combined £1.6million.

Foster’s percentage – caddies usually earn between five and ten per-cent of winnings – means the biggest pay day of a career spanning more than 20 years.

Yet the early part of the year saw the Bingley St Ives member being fired by Sergio Garcia. However, linking up with friend Westwood in May transformed his fortunes.

Foster, who lives in Eldwick, said: “It was disappointing to split with Sergio and I could never have foreseen how well this year has gone.

“As it turns out, this has definitely been my best year.”

On top of Westwood’s success, the Holy Family School pupil raised over £67,000 in a 90-mile charity walk from Loch Lomond to this year’s Open venue Turnberry.

And earlier this month, he received the HSBC Caddy of the Year award in Shanghai.

Following Westwood’s triumph, the Worksop star revealed the influence a pep talk from his caddy in the build-up to the desert decider had had on him.

Foster said: “We had a really honest chat on the Tuesday night.

“I felt since his win in Portugal he had not quite been himself.

“I told him to stop worrying about what others were doing. He was the one with all the experience and I told him, ‘They should be afraid of you, not you of them. You need to start bossing them.’”

Westwood proceeeded to blow away nearest rival Rory McIlroy on his way to an amazing 23 under par to win by six shots.

Asked if it was the best he’d seen Westwood play, Foster said: “I think it’s the best I’ve seen anyone play. It was like the Westwood of ten or 12 years ago.”

Foster was full of praise for the way his employer has not let his Open near-miss affect him.

Westwood three-putted the last green to miss out on a play-off at Turnberry and Foster, who was on Thomas Bjorn’s bag when he threw away the Open at Sandwich, said: “He could have been down for two or three months but he picked himself up and came third in the US PGA, which was a great response.

“I think there was a determination at the weekend from both us that we were not going to let the Open experience happen again as that left a bitter taste.”