Caddy Keri fits the Bill for Ghostbusters star!

The Hollywood actor specifically requested Ballymena woman Keri Smyth to perform the bag duties after she had caddied for him on a previous visit to the famous links course.

“That was five years ago when he came to play Royal Portrush, while he was on a break from filming in Belfast.

“I had done a bit of caddying that summer and when I got a phone call from the Pro Shop asking me if I would caddy for Bill Murray, I got there as quick as I could!” recalls Keri, a member at Royal Portrush.

“He played on the Saturday and the Sunday and I caddied for him both days - he was hilarious.”

Five years on, the former Cambridge House pupil - who graduates with a degree in Marketing and Events Management from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, this weekend - was amazed to get a similar phone call from the club last week.

“He was due to play in the Pro-Am event and he asked the club if I could caddy for him again - I was stunned that after five years he even remembered my name!

“I just happened to be back in Ballymena that weekend as a surprise for my dad’s birthday and was due to go back on the Tuesday as I was supposed to be working,” says Keri, who has a part-time job back in Scotland in a bar/restaurant.

“I had to try to ring work to see if I could get someone to cover my shifts but it didn’t look good for a while - in fact, when I explained why, my manager asked ‘who’s Bill Murray?’!

“I decided to take a chance and contacted the restaurant owner - he’s a golfer himself and he said it was too big an opportunity to miss and that they would sort out my shifts so I’m very grateful to him for that.”

With that obstacle out of the way, Keri was able to focus on her duties with the Caddyshack star, who thrilled crowds at Wednesday’s pre-cursor to the main tournament.

“We went out in the buggies to meet Bill Murray, his brother Joel and the actor Aidan Quinn as they got out of the helicopter

“It was fantastic to see the size of the crowds out both that day and then for the Irish Open itself.

“It was all very relaxed at the Pro-Am. We were out in the same group as Graeme McDowell and he and Bill could hardly get from one green to the next tee without being bombarded for requests for autographs and photographs but they dealt with as many as they could.

“Bill loved the attention he got from the spectators and he really played up to it - he’s so quirky that sometimes when he says something, you don’t know whether he’s joking or being serious but he is a lovely guy, so much fun.”

After the Pro-Am tournament, Keri was invited to lunch in the pavilion, where she sat down with golfing stars such as Padraig Harrington and John Daly, as well as Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill and former Northern Ireland goalkeeper Pat Jennings.

“It was a totally surreal day but very enjoyable.

“During a quiet moment on the course, I was able to introduce Bill to my dad David and then my mum Nicky came to pick me up from a dinner at the club that evening so she got to meet Bill as well.

“It was a hectic few days but totally worth the hassle of changing flights and work shifts - it’s something I’ll never forget,” added Keri.