Tag: Caddie

Justin Thomas parts ways with caddie Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay a week before The Masters

Just a week before the start of the 2024 Masters, Justin Thomas shockingly decides to part ways with his caddie, Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay.

Next Thursday, April 11, the 2024 edition of The Masters will be teeing off live from Augusta National in Georgia. This week, former Alabama Crimson Tide golfer [autotag]Justin Thomas[/autotag] made the shocking decision to part ways with legendary caddie Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay ahead of the iconic tournament.

Mackay worked as the caddie for Phil Mickelson from 1992 until 2017 when they mutually parted ways. Mackay spent the next four years working as a commentator for NBC/Golf Channel, before returning to the sport in 2021 to caddie for Thomas.

At this moment in time, nobody knows exactly what led to the split between the No. 28 golfer in the world and his caddie, but the timing is very interesting, to say the least.

Thomas issued a statement regarding the decision saying,

“While incredibly difficult for me to say, Bones and I have parted ways. I’m going to be forever thankful for him joining me on the bag in 2021. The things we’ve been able to accomplish together – The PGA Championship in 2022, The Presidents Cup, The Ryder Cups were all unforgettable experiences. His wisdom on and off the course has been a blessing during a tough stretch of my career and he was there every step of the way. I know there are great things coming for both of us down the road. I wish him the best of luck and will always count him and his family amongst my friends.”

It is still unknown who will be on the bag for Thomas next week, but he will have to move quickly, as he looks to claim his first-ever Masters title.

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Justin Thomas announces split from caddie Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay, who will loop at Masters?

Justin Thomas will have a new caddie next week at the Masters.

Justin Thomas will have a new caddie next week at the Masters.

He announced Wednesday on social media he was splitting with Jim “Bones” Mackay, calling the decision “incredibly difficult for me to say.” Mackay joined Thomas’ bag in late 2021, and the duo won the 2022 PGA Championship together.

Mackay was the longtime looper for Phil Mickelson before the duo split in 2017. Then, Mackay went to work full-time for NBC Sports and Golf Channel doing commentary. He was the fill-in lead analyst for NBC during the PGA Tour stop in Mexico. At the time, he said he wasnā€™t interested in the full-time job, replacing Paul Azinger.

“I’m going to be forever thankful for him joining me on the bag in 2021,” Thomas wrote in a post on social media. “His wisdom on and off the course has been a blessing during a tough stretch of my career and he was there every step of the way.”

As for who will take over for Thomas full-time, the two-time major champion, we won’t have to wait long to find out. He’s in the field next week for the first men’s major championship of the year, the Masters.

Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis reported it will be Matt Minister on the bag for Thomas at Augusta National. Minister caddied for Patrick Cantlay when he won the 2021 Tour Championship.

Thomas worked with Jimmy Johnson since Thomas started out as a rookie in 2015 before Mackay took over the bag. Mackay caddied for Thomas when he won the 2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational before he was full-time on Thomas’ bag.

Tim Mickelson retires from caddying, ends 8-year on-course relationship with brother Phil Mickelson

“Iā€™m very lucky to have had him on the bag for me the past eight years and as my brother for life,” said Phil.

Lefty needs a new looper.

Phil Mickelson announced on social media that his brother, Tim Mickelson, has retired from caddying, ending an eight-year on-course relationship highlighted by Phil’s historic 2021 PGA Championship victory and subsequent move to LIV Golf. Tim took the job after Phil and longtime caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay split in 2017 and was on the bag for Lefty’s wins at the 2018 WGC-Mexico Championship and 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Before he caddied for his brother, Tim was a college golf coach at the University of San Diego and Arizona State University, where he coached Jon Rahm. He then briefly served as Rahm’s agent for a year before he started his career as a caddie.

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Tiger Woods has chosen this veteran caddie to work for him at the Genesis Invitational

Golfweek has learned this veteran caddie has been chosen by Woods for the plum assignment at Riviera.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. ā€“ Tiger Woods is back in action this week as the playing host of the PGA Tourā€™s Genesis Invitational. That has been anticipated for some time. But who will be on the bag for Woods now that Joe LaCava has taken up permanent residence with Patrick Cantlay?

Golfweek has learned that veteran caddie Lance Bennett has been chosen by Woods for the plum assignment at Riviera. Woods knows Bennett well from his days caddying for Matt Kuchar, including a win alongside him at the 2012 Players, during his prime.

In recent years, Bennett has been on the bag for Sungjae Im and Davis Riley and he also spent time on the LPGA with Juli Inkster, Paula Creamer and Lorena Ochoa. This season, heā€™s working full-time for Tour rookie Adrien Dumont de Chassart, a Belgian golfer who competed at Illinois and won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour, earning KFT Player of the Year honors last season.

Dumont de Chassart (nicknamed ADDC for short) and Woods are managed by the same agency, and Dumont de Chassart isnā€™t in the field this week, which makes it easy for Bennett to jump to Tigerā€™s bag. Itā€™s possible that Bennett could be on the bag for Tiger at the Players Championship and the Masters too, but sources say that Tiger may bounce around between some different caddies.

Photos: Tiger Woods through the years

Rob McNamara, Tigerā€™s longtime business partner and vice president of TGR Ventures, caddied for Tiger at the Hero World Challenge in December and could fill the role again and Woods didnā€™t shut down the possibility of son Charlie serving as his sidekick in the future when asked if he might tote his bag.

Woods is making his first official Tour start since withdrawing from the Masters after making the cut in April. How much Woods plays this season will depend on his health, but he’s made it very clear he expects to play a limited schedule focused around the majors.

Woods originally had Mike “Fluff” Cowan on the bag when he won the 1997 Masters, then won 13 majors and 72 Tour titles with Steve Williams, and joined up with LaCava in 2012.

Efforts to confirm Tiger’s caddie with his management team were not returned.

In other caddie news, Paul Tesori has moved to the bag of Tom Kim. Tesori spent 12 years on the bag of Webb Simpson before moving to Cameron Young last March. Tesori started the year with Brendon Todd but wasn’t on Todd’s bag in Phoenix. Kim had Joe Skovron last season until he was hired away by Ludvig Aberg. Kim began the year with Daniel Parratt. When asked about joining Kim, Tesori said, ā€œIā€™m looking forward to what will hopefully be another long term relationship on the bag. Tom is obviously extremely talented but having faith as a common denominator is something that I believe will help when golf gets difficult, which it seems to always be!ā€

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PGA Tour caddie has hilarious interaction with fan, says be quiet in the most polite way possible

“We’re playing golf over here.”

Professional caddies have a nearly impossible job, even when done right.

Although they’re not the ones hitting the shots, they’re in charge of helping players dial in a yardage, figure out where the wind is coming from and how a certain slope is going to affect ball flight.

And sometimes, caddies have to perform crowd control.

Enter Aaron Flener, caddie for two-time PGA Tour winner J.T. Poston, who is in the field at this week’s 2024 American Express in La Quinta, California. Poston carded a 5-under 67 on Thursday, but on his final hole of the day at PGA West’s Pete Dye Stadium Course, he found the bunker on the par-4 18th.

As Poston lined up for his second shot, cameras panned to him waggling in the bunker, but a fan close by was having a phone conversation. That’s when Flener put a swift end to it in the most polite way possible.

“Sir, can you hang up the phone, please? We’re playing golf over here.”

The comments brought a chuckle from the announcers, and even Poston stepped off his ball and put his hand up to his ear, making a phone gesture with his fingers.

American Express:Ā PhotosĀ |Ā Friday tee times

No need to fret, however. Poston was able to get out of the bunker and make par to finish his day strong.

And for Flener, it was just another day on the job.

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Lexi Thompson hires new full-time caddie on verge of 2024 LPGA season

Thompson is hoping to carry momentum from late ’23 into the new season.

Last year was an interesting one for Lexi Thompson. In her first 10 events of 2023, Thompson missed eight cuts, including a stretch of five straight from the U.S. Women’s Open to the Portland Classic.

But something clicked after leaving the Pacific Northwest.

Thompson finished T-19 (Kroger Queen City Championship), T-8 (Walmart NW Arkansas Championship), 5th (The Ascendant LPGA) and T-7 (The Annika) over her final four official LPGA starts of the year. At the Solheim Cup, Thompson compiled a 3-1-0 record. She also teamed with Rickie Fowler at the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational in December and tied for sixth.

Well, after a successful end to 2023, Thompson has hired a new full-time caddie for the upcoming ’24 season.

MORE: Longest-standing and successful player/caddie LPGA duos

Colton Heisey, who was on the bag for Thompson’s last three LPGA starts, will now be looping for the American star full-time.

ā€œIā€™m super grateful for the opportunity to work with one of the best to ever do it,ā€ Heisey wrote in a post to social media.

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Caddie carousel: Tom Kim hires new caddie, Cameron Young to have new bagman as Paul Tesori heads to a veteran pro

Plenty of players will have new caddies in 2024.

Tis the season to be jolly as well as for pro golfers to switch golf gear and change caddies.

The caddie carousel is the focus of this story. Ludvig Aberg, No. 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking, got the party started a few weeks ago by hiring Joe Skovron away from Tom Kim.

ā€œFor next year, all Iā€™m looking for is more experience in these bigger tournaments,ā€ he told Smylie Kaufman on his podcast ā€œThe Smylie Show.ā€ ā€œI wanted someone I could rely on 1,000 percent, and I think with the experience in the past that Joe has kind of speaks for itself and I think thatā€™s mainly what Iā€™m looking for. Playing a U.S. Open where you win with 6 under, itā€™s difficult to get away with mistakes and I think thatā€™s what went into that decision.ā€

Golfweek has learned that Kim has hired a replacement, choosing Daniel Parratt, who formerly caddied for Kimā€™s International Team Presidents Cup teammate K.H. Lee.

Kim, who is ranked No. 11 in the world, won the Shriners Childrenā€™s Open twice with Skovron on the bag and was the darling of the 2022 Presidents Cup. Kimā€™s agent declined to confirm the caddie change.

Kim isnā€™t the only top-25 ranked player who will have a new caddie next season. Golfweek has learned that Cameron Young will have a new sidekick, too, when he starts the season at The Sentry in Maui.

Longtime caddie Paul Tesori confirmed to Golfweek that he has jumped ship to the bag of veteran pro Brendon Todd, a three-time Tour winner who is coming off a season in which he finished in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup and is booked for eight signature events in 2024. Tesori, who spent more than 12 years working for Webb Simpson, joined Young one of the top young players on Tour and ranked No. 21 in the world, in March at the WGC-Dell Match Play.

But with Toddā€™s caddie David Clark moving to LIV to work for Ian Poulter, Tesori, who has been dealing with a back injury, has opted to go with the veteran over a rising star who has seemed on the verge of reaching the winnerā€™s circle for some time. Itā€™s unclear who will work for Young next season. An email requesting comment was unanswered at this time. But with the new season scheduled to start on Jan. 4, it wonā€™t be long until we find out.

Where’s Paul Tesori? Here’s why Cameron Young’s caddie is absent at the World Wide Technology Championship

Tesori was a good enough player to earn his Tour card before switching to caddying.

LOS CABOS, Mexico ā€” Cameron Young didn’t miss a beat in the first round of the World Wide Technology Championship.

On Thursday, in his return to the PGA Tour for the first time since getting bounced after the second of three events in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, Young carded a bogey-free 65. What Young was missing was regular caddie Paul Tesori, who was back home in Florida nursing a back injury that has him considering surgery.

Tesori, who was a good enough player to earn his Tour card before switching to caddying, previously worked for Vijay Singh, Sean Oā€™Hair and spent the past 12 years with Webb Simpson, during which time they won the 2012 U.S. Open and 2018 Players Championship. In late March, they parted ways and Tesori hooked up with Young, 26, the 2022 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, who entered the week ranked No. 17 in the world.

Tesori took X-rays of his arthritic knee and four damaged discs in his back and visited with a surgeon on Thursday to discuss a possible microdiscectomy while Young was shooting a bogey-free round that has him in contention for his first Tour title. Caddie David Cook, who has filled in for Simpson this season, lugged the bag at El Cardonal at Diamante, which caddies are calling one of the toughest walks on Tour.

“The ruptured disc was worse than he thought. There are two levels of the fragment so heā€™d have to go straight on and also on the side. Itā€™s more difficult than a routine microdiscectomy,” Tesori wrote in a text message to Golfweek. “It is so hard to decide whether to do the surgery or not … My biggest thing I kept saying was, ‘Isnā€™t the surgery the safest route?’ He said emphatically no. He wants to do another MRI within a month. He believes thereā€™s a 75 percent chance my body will start to heal the disc but no timeframe … Heā€™s encouraged by the pain being reduced. He really doesnā€™t want to go the surgical route because of the overall health of my back, and now the difficulty of the disc.”

Despite the pain he’s been suffering, Tesori still hopes to be back on the bag when Young makes a start at the RSM Classic, the final FedEx Cup Fall event, which is a 90-minute drive from Tesori’s home.

“My goal is still to work RSM but Iā€™m not sure how currently,” he said.

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Why this U.S. Amateur semifinalist needs a new caddie for the weekend

“At the end of the day, I’m swinging the club, so it’s not a big deal.”

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CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. ā€” Neal Shipley is having a helluva summer.

He has runner-up finishes at the Dogwood Invitational, the Sunnehanna Amateur and the Trans-Mississippi Amateur. He also tied for third at the Pacific Coast Amateur. Now, the graduate student at Ohio State is a semifinalist in the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club.

On Friday, Shipley dispatched Andi Xu 2 and 1 in the quarterfinals. His luscious, flowing hair has become a fun talking point for fans and makes him plenty noticeable on the course, but his game is doing most of the talking.

“You’ve got to beat so many good players, and I’ve had a lot of really tough matches,” Shipley said. “This one is pretty special because I started out kind of slow and had to claw back. Got up, and then he got me, and then just kind of won those two near the end.”

U.S. Amateur: Photos from Cherry Hills

Buckeyes’ assistant coach Jimmy Beck has looped for Shipley this week, and they’ve been a formidable duo. However, Shipley has to find a new caddie for the weekend.

“Jimmy is awesome,” Shipley said. “Unfortunately, he has to go to his baby shower tomorrow.”

So, what’s the backup plan?

“Just so happens one of my really good friends who caddied for Austin Greaser at the Oakmont (U.S.) Am (2021), he happens to be at Beaver Creek, and I’m going to make him drive down for that.”

That good friend is Carter Pitcairn, a rising sophomore at Wisconsin. And yes, Pitcairn has plenty of experience in the U.S. Amateur as a caddie.

In 2021, he helped Greaser, now a grad student at North Carolina, to the championship match at Oakmont Country Club. This week, Greaser reached the Round of 32.

“I have a lot of trust in him,” Shipley said. “At the end of the day, I’m swinging the club, so it’s not a big deal.”

Beaver Creek is about two hours west of Cherry Hills in the Rocky Mountains. Instead of hanging out at the mountain resort, Pitcaird will be trying to help Shipley earn a berth in the championship match.

Shipley will take on Auburn senior John Marshall Butler at 2:15 p.m. ET in the semifinals.

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Photos: Famous female caddies through the years in pro golf

Here’s a look at female caddies through the years on the PGA Tour.Ā 

There have been numerous female caddies in men’s professional golf through the years. None are more famous than Fanny Sunesson.

She made her name on the bag with Nick Faldo. The duo won four major titles together in the 1990s. She also had stints with Sergio Garcia, Fred Funk and Notah Begay III before retiring in 2012.

She came back and caddied for Adam Scott at the 2018 Open Championship as well as fellow Swede Henrik Stenson at the 2019 Masters.

Sunesson set the bar high for female caddies in the men’s professional game, but she also paved the way for women to have more opportunities as caddies. Many others have followed, and it’s not a surprise to see a female caddie, often times wives or girlfriends, at a PGA Tour event.

At the 3M Open outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota native Frankie Capan III has his mom on the bag and does full-time on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Here’s a look at female caddies through the years.