Tag: Jim “Bones” Mackay

PGA Championship: Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay finally gets the caddie trophy he’s long desired

After all these years, Jim “Bones” Mackay got the caddie trophy he’s always wanted.

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TULSA, Okla. – Jim “Bones” Mackay received some help unscrewing the 18th-hole flag from the stick not long after his boss, Justin Thomas, had tapped in to beat Will Zalatoris in a playoff to win the 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

It was for a moment such as this that Bones, 56, dropped the mic for NBC Sports and Golf Channel and returned to caddying for the one player he’d told his wife if he ever got the chance to work for, they’d be having a conversation.

When Thomas approached Bones shortly after the 2021 Ryder Cup and asked him to become his full-time caddie, it was an easy decision for Bones. Thomas wanted him on the bag for moments such as Saturday evening, when a dejected Thomas sensed that his 4-over 74 in the third round had cost him the tournament. Despite the fact that Thomas would be entering the final round trailing by seven strokes, Bones delivered the tough love that was necessary.

“I’m fully confident in saying that I wouldn’t be standing here if he didn’t give me that, wasn’t necessarily a speech, but a talk, if you will,” Thomas said. “I just needed to let some steam out. I didn’t need to bring my frustration and anger home with me. I didn’t need to leave the golf course in a negative frame of mind. I just went down, ‘I played pretty well yesterday for shooting 4-over, and I felt like I’d played terrible.’ And he was just like, ‘Dude, you’ve got to be stop being so hard on yourself. You’re in contention every single week we’re playing.’ ”

PGA: Leaderboard | Photos | Winner’s bag

Bones continued: “It’s a major championship. You don’t have to be perfect. Just don’t be hard on yourself. Just kind of let stuff happen, and everything is trending in the right direction. So just keep staying positive so that good stuff can happen.”

“I left here in an awesome frame of mind,” Thomas said.

On Sunday, after taking a few last putts on the practice green, Thomas handed his putter back to Bones. No words were exchanged, but Thomas calmly took the fresh glove Bones had rested over an alignment stick and started walking towards the golf carts that were shuttling players and caddies to the first tee. Kids along a railing called out to him, but his mind was elsewhere. Instead, he slapped the glove against his right thigh. Hard. He did it again, and then a third time. He was in the frame mind to pounce if any of the inexperienced leaders faltered.

It didn’t look that way early when Thomas made two bogeys in his first six holes, including a shank off the tee at the par-3 sixth hole that Bones later joked was “a shanky, barkie, sandy.” Thomas found his stride and shot 67, the only player in the last seven groups Sunday to break par, and when he ended up in a three-hole playoff, he went for the kill.

“Bones did an unbelievable job of keeping me in the moment,” Thomas said.

PGA: Leaderboard | Photos | Winner’s bag
Justin Thomas and Bones Mackay on the 11th hole during the final round of the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club.. (Photo: Matt York/Associated Press)

Winning majors is old hat for Bones, who had won five previously during his 25 years on the bag for Phil Mickelson. But he didn’t have the caddie trophy to show for it.

As detailed in the new book, “Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and unauthorized) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar,” Mickelson had a tradition where he gave his winning flag from 18 to his grandfather, a former Pebble Beach caddie, who hung them on his kitchen wall. Mickelson’s first major flag from the 2004 Masters went there, four months after his death.

“Mackay understood and respected that gesture, but 19 more Tour victories would follow, including four majors and he never got to keep a single flag,” Shipnuck wrote.

“That’s a giant f— you to a caddie,” Shipnuck quotes someone very close to Mackay. “When Phil wins the Masters, he gets the green jacket, the trophy, the big check, all the glory. He had to take the flags, too?… For Phil not to follow the tradition was hugely disrespectful.”

During the week of the WM Phoenix Open, Bones hosted a dinner party for players and caddies at his home and without fail he would be asked, “Where are the flags?”

Shortly after their break-up in the summer of 2017, Mickelson overnighted to Bones the major flags they had won together.

“But Phil autographed them in comically large letters, which Mackay felt disfigured the keepsakes,” Shipnuck reported and noted that Bones never displayed them in his home.

Bones didn’t participate in Shipnuck’s book, and when asked to confirm these details from Shipnuck’s book this week, he declined. But he also didn’t refute them.

It is rich with irony that Bones was on the bag for the winner at the PGA where Mickelson was supposed to be the defending champion and elected not to play. On Sunday, Bones tucked the 18th flag into the left pocket of his shorts.  When asked if he knew where he would display it, he smiled wide.

“I’ve got a spot in mind,” he said, saying he’d have to get approval from his wife, “but somewhere that my friends can come around and see it.”

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Justin Thomas revealed the inspiring message his caddie Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay told him before Sunday’s winning round

This was an incredible message from Bones.

Last fall Justin Thomas was able to make a huge move for his career when he lured veteran caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay out of his TV job and into his new gig – carrying JT’s bag full-time on the PGA Tour.

Bones, of course, spent many years on Phil Mickelson’s bag and won five major championships with the legendary golfer who remained in hiding this week instead of defending his PGA Championship.

Thomas made that move hoping that Bones could help him win more major championships. And, well, so far that seems to be working out for him as Thomas won the PGA Championship in a playoff on Sunday to pick up the second major victory of his career.

Thomas trailed the leader by 7 shots after Saturday’s third round and it was easy for fans to think he wouldn’t be a factor in Sunday’s final round. So what helped him flip the switch?

Some inspiring words from his caddie. Thomas shared those words after his win:

Yup, hiring Bones has been a great move for Thomas. Those words of advice from a guy who has been in so many big moments throughout the years sure helped and it’s a message we can all take something from.

Twitter loved it:

PGA Championship: With Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay back in pursuit at Southern Hills, who are the most successful caddies in men’s majors of all time?

Caddie Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay is in pursuit of his sixth major title, but who has more?

Jim “Bones” Mackay is at it again, carrying the bag and helping to strategize for Justin Thomas in this week’s PGA Championship as Thomas has climbed the leaderboard. Bones has five major titles to his caddie credit, making him one of the most successful loopers of all time in golf’s biggest events.

But, he doesn’t have the most wins.

Below, find a list of some of the caddies who have looped for the most men’s major championships. The list includes some caddies you might have heard of, and plenty who worked in the era in which caddies received almost none of the credit and were often expected to “Show up, keep up and shut up.”

But most of them can claim plenty of credit in helping their golfers earn big titles. Then check out the Caddie Hall of Fame, from which some of this information has been obtained.

This conversation at PGA Championship between Justin Thomas and Bones on what club to hit is golf nerd gold

Attention golf announcers: We’d get more stuff like this.

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It’s rare to capture a conversation between player and caddie during a golf broadcast because most of the time the broadcasters can’t shut their mouths.

So far, the coverage on ESPN+ has been fantastic and quite a few discussions have been picked up by the various microphones on the course.

Another great moment happened Friday morning when Justin Thomas and his caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay, were discussing what club to hit into the 18th green of Southern Hills Country Club during the second round of the 104th PGA Championship.

Listening in on two great golf minds is as good as it gets for many golf nerds, including the one writing this article. They discuss things amateur golfers don’t even think about and your average player can learn a lot from these conversations.

Thomas would put his approach to just under 50 feet and later two-putt for par.

PGA: How to watch | ESPN+ streaming | Yardage book | Tee times

JT had the low round in the afternoon wave Thursday, and shot a 1-under 34 on his opening nine Friday to get within a shot of first-round leader Rory McIlroy, who tees off Friday afternoon with Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth.

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Book review: Alan Shipnuck presents the good and bad sides of Phil Mickelson and lets the reader decide

Golf fans get a good read but don’t get their fill of Phil in Shipnuck’s “Rip-Roaring” biography of Mickelson.

Wherever it is that Phil Mickelson is laying low this week, he must be thinking, “if only I hadn’t called Alan Shipnuck.”

Without Mickelson opening his big mouth and telling his unvarnished thoughts on the Saudis behind a renegade golf league (“scary motherf—–s”), Shipnuck still would have produced a read that is a rollicking good time, but it wouldn’t be the talk of the town – and Phil likely wouldn’t be skipping his title defense of this week’s PGA Championship and on sabbatical from what has been a Hall of Fame career.

Who is the real Phil Mickelson? Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and unauthorized) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar seeks that answer. Shipnuck, longtime golf writer for Sports Illustrated and Golf and now a partner in the Firepit Collective, reflects back to something Mickelson said to him during a confrontation that he highlights in the book’s introduction. “It was meant as a taunt but became the challenge that animated this book: ‘You think you know me but you don’t.’”

Think about it: for as much Phil has spent the last 30+ years under a microscope he’s done a masterful job of protecting his private life. We’ve never seen him play golf with any of his kids. Everything about Phil that he shares has felt very calculated, as Shipnuck notes even his psoriatic arthritis diagnosis netted him an endorsement opportunity.

Shipnuck paints Phil as “a smart-ass who built an empire on being the consummate professional; a loving husband dogged by salacious rumors; a gambler who knows the house always wins but can’t help himself, anyway; an intensely private person who loves to talk about himself.”

He’s always been the proverbial riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. But by the time you finish this page-turner you’ll have a better idea who you think Phil is. I suspect Phil’s fan base will find reasons anew to adore him even more while his detractors will find fresh ammo to argue that he’s one of the all-time phonies.

The opening chapter sets a wonderful pace going from one outrageous story to another – it feels like Shipnuck gathered a bunch of Phil’s acquaintances around a campfire and they’re dishing their best of collection of Phil tales and said, ‘I can top that.’

My favorite part of the book may be the early chapters before Phil turned pro. Kudos to Shipnuck for tracking down childhood friends and college pals and presenting popped-collar Phil in all his frat-boy glory for some fresh stories of beer-swilling, money games and competitions, egos and envy before Phil really became Phil.

Shipnuck takes us inside the highs and lows of his PGA Tour career, and is at his best in the section on Mickelson’s collapse at Winged Foot, but short-changed his stunning victory at age 50 in the 2021 PGA Championship. That chapter is a mere six pages.

The book is a breezy read, weighing in at just 239 pages. You know how you go to a movie you really wanted to see and you leave wishing they had cut out at least 45 minutes (I’m looking at you, latest James Bond flick)? Well, Shipnuck’s Phil bio is the opposite. He easily could’ve written another 50, 75, dare I say 100 more pages and readers surely would have eaten them up like cat nip. In short, we didn’t get our fill of Phil.

Who is Phil? Shipnuck presents both the good and bad and leaves it to the reader to decide where they come out in the end. Leave it to two of his longtime Tour breathren to describe him best: “People ask me what he’s like,” says Brian Gay, “and I say, ‘If you ask Phil Mickelson what time it is he’ll tell you how to build a watch.’ ”

And then there’s Stewart Cink: “There are so many stories, but they all have one thing in common: juice. Doesn’t matter what form the juice takes. Needling in the locker room is juice. Money games during practice rounds is juice. Trying to pull off crazy shots with a tournament on the line is definitely juice. Criticizing Tiger’s equipment when he’s on a historic run is a lot of things, but it’s also juice. Phil loves math and computations, and where that stuff meets juice is Vegas, so of course Phil loves it there. When you know you don’t have an advantage, but you still want to bet large amounts? That’s juice. Phil is an all-time juice guy.”

While the juiciest material already has been squeezed out and released in excerpts, this book has plenty of juice. I’m still not convinced Shipnuck got to the bottom of the parting of Phil and Bones after 25 years together, but at least Shipnuck called as he put it, “B.S.” and advanced the story. It’s a second-hand quote – as Bones didn’t participate directly in the book either – but this shot from Bones is telling nonetheless.

“Nobody knows Phil Mickelson. Nobody. I spent 25 years standing next to the guy and he’s still a total mystery to me.”

After all these years, Phil revealed too much of his inner thoughts when he phoned Shipnuck in November and spouted off about the Saudis, Jay Monahan and his true feelings about the inner workings of the PGA Tour. But as Shipnuck concludes, Phil is no stranger to controversy. “Somehow he always emerges with his vast fan base intact. Sports fans love a comeback and a redemption story. A more humble, more human, less cartoonish Mickelson figures to be more popular than ever. Come what may, he will survive, because he survives everything.”

What will Phil do next? The way he eventually handles the fall out of his inflammatory comments may shape his legacy in the game and reveal once and for all, who is Phil.

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Masters: Why the partnership of Justin Thomas and Bones and yes — purple Skittles — could net a green jacket

“He never wants to be underprepared. He wants to make sure he does everything he can.”

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Purple Skittles.

That is the type of candy that Justin Thomas likes and it came up during his pre-tournament press conference when discussing what makes Jim “Bones” Mackay a special caddie.

“Bones is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen. He does a great job and all the other little extra aspects. He’s a good listener. He’s one of those people where you’ll be having a conversation about something, and three, four months down the road, he’ll get you a gift of that little thing, that little candy you were talking about that you liked,” Thomas said. “I wish I had that trait because I forget things after a week. My fiancee (Jill) could probably vouch for that.”

It begged the question of what type of candy Bones had remembered.

“It was more of an example. It hasn’t actually happened,” Thomas explained. “Yeah, he brought something to Jill when she was talking about something a couple weeks later. But no candy yet for me. But if you’re listening, Bones, I like purple Skittles.”

Masters: Thursday tee times | Best bets | PGA Tour Live streaming on ESPN+

This is the first major that Bones has been on the bag for Thomas, who parted ways with Jimmy Johnson after six years and 13 PGA Tour victories together in late September. Bones spent 25 years on the bag with Phil Mickelson and was by his side for his first five majors before becoming a standout TV commentator for Golf Channel/NBC. Bones previously subbed at a few events for Johnson when he was sidelined, and he and Thomas developed immediate chemistry that included a victory for Thomas at the 2020 WGC FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. Thomas has been nothing but complimentary of his former caddie, who opted to step away from the job after the 2020-21 season, while noting that Bones brings some unique traits to the job.

World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba
Justin Thomas of the United States and caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay line up a putt on the sixth green during the third round of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba on El Camaleon golf course on November 06, 2021, in Playa del Carmen. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

“He never wants to be underprepared. He wants to make sure he does everything he can so that he makes it feel like we have the best chance we can to win. And that’s very comforting as a player because I have all the faith in the world in my caddie, and all of us do,” Thomas said. “We want to know that, if we’re going to ask them a question, they’re going to answer it not only honestly but with what they feel is the appropriate information.”

Already this season the addition of veteran caddie Ted Scott, who was Bubba Watson’s caddie for his two Masters wins, has paid big dividends for Scottie Scheffler. That duo has won three times in a span of five tournaments and climbed to World No. 1 with their latest victory at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Could Bones, who has more than 20 years of experience studying the intricacies of Augusta National, provide a similar boost to Thomas’ hopes at the Masters? Thomas, 28, could use a jump start at the majors, wherewith the exception of winning the 2017 PGA Championship he’s recorded just four other top-10 finishes in 24 starts. Asked if he feels he’s underachieved at the majors, Thomas replied, “I know I have. I have not even close to performed well in my entire career in majors. I had a good year in ’17. I had one good major there at the PGA, I think in ’18, and played well at the Masters here in ’20 (Masters-best fourth). But in terms of a result standpoint, which is at the end of the day is all that matters when it comes to tournaments is how you finish at the end of the week, but no, I feel like I’ve performed very, very poorly.”

Thomas has a theory on what has held him back from reaching his full potential in the majors.

“I’ve just put too much pressure on myself in the past and maybe put the tournament on too much of a pedestal and tried to, you know, just overdo things when in reality I should have faith in my game,” he said. “I just need to get a little bit better at kind of getting in my own world and just going to play golf.”

And if Bones is listening, don’t forget to load the bag with purple Skittles.

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Justin Thomas, nicknamed the Icon of the CJ Cup, starts new season with new caddie Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay

Justin Thomas is naturally called JT, but he learned on Tuesday he has another handle halfway around the world.

LAS VEGAS – Justin Thomas is naturally called JT.

But he learned on Tuesday he has another handle halfway around the world.

Turns out he’s known in South Korea as the Icon of the CJ Cup.

“That’s a cool nickname, I didn’t know that,” Thomas said.

It’s a fitting moniker. The world No. 6 won the CJ Cup two of the first three years it was contested, in 2017 and 2019. Those tournaments were held at the Nine Bridges Golf Club on Jeju Island, South Korea.

Because of the global coronavirus pandemic, however, the tournament was moved stateside, with Jason Kokrak winning last year at nearby Shadow Creek.

Thomas, who tied for 12th last year, hopes to live up to his nickname this week at The Summit Club, a stunning setting with views of the Las Vegas Strip, desert mountains and Red Rock Canyon just 10 miles from Shadow Creek.

“I wish we could be spending this time in Jeju island. I have a lot of great memories there, developed a lot of great friendships and relationships,” Thomas said. “It’s a great week. The golf course, the food, the hotel. Obviously the travel’s a little bit easier this week just coming to Vegas versus Jeju, but it’s a great tournament and it’s great to see a lot of familiar faces and hopefully we can recreate some of the good memories here in Vegas.”

Thomas makes his season debut this week, coming off a 2-1-1 record in the Ryder Cup as Team USA trounced Team Europe. He’ll do so with a new caddie – Jim “Bones” Mackay. Thomas and Jimmy Johnson, who was on the bag since 2015, split two weeks ago. It was quite a run for the two, with Thomas winning 13 titles, including the 2017 PGA Championship and the 2021 Players Championship. He was the PGA Tour’s player of the year in 2017 and won the FedEx Cup.

TOUR Championship - Final Round
Justin Thomas talks with his caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay on the 11th tee during the final round of the 2020 Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Mackay, who spent 25 years as Phil Mickelson’s caddie before joining NBC Sports as an on-course commentator in 2017 and will continue in the broadcast world on a limited basis, has worked with Thomas before when Johnson was injured or ill. Thomas won the 2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational with Mackay on the bag.

Still, there will be an adjustment period to deal with between Thomas and Mackay.

“Obviously I’m comfortable right now and I think he’s comfortable now, but I’m sure as more and more events go on, like anything, you just get better and better. At least that’s the hope,” Thomas said. “I think that’s the exciting part about it is that we’re already very confident, I feel like we can do a lot of great things, but at the same time we’re just going to continue to learn and know each other better and better and hopefully get more comfortable.

“We’re going to learn about each other as we go on. I think we’re both very excited and looking forward to that.”

While it’s hard to say Thomas is looking to put last season behind him, seeing as he won the Players, he wasn’t thrilled with the campaign. After racking up 11 wins and 22 top-10 finishes in four seasons, Thomas won once and had only four other top-10s last season. Two of those top-10s, however, came in his last three starts.

“Last year was an up‑and‑down year,” he said. “Wasn’t showing the consistency that I feel like I could or just kind of finishing off tournaments how I felt like I could. I was close to playing well for a while, but just wasn’t really able to get much result‑wise out of it.

“I really feel like I kind of found some good stuff there at the end of the season and into the playoffs to where I started playing a little bit better, and hopefully we’ll be able to take some of that into this fall and into the 2021‑22 season.”

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Report: Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay is headed back to his original career as Justin Thomas’s full-time caddie

Mackay, who has become a familiar voice for NBC Sports/Golf Channel, is headed back to caddie life.

Jim “Bones” Mackay, former longtime caddie for Phil Mickelson, has become a familiar voice on golf broadcasts. Since transitioning off the bag for the six-time major winner to a role with NBC Sports/Golf Channel in 2017, Mackay has intermittently made caddie appearances, most notably for Justin Thomas but also for Matthew Fitzpatrick in 2020.

According to a GolfChannel.com report on Thursday, Mackay is back to his old gig. He’ll pick up the bag for Thomas once again, this time becoming Thomas’s full-time man.

“It came out of left field very recently. I have just tremendous respect for [Thomas]  as a person and a player,” Mackay told Golf Channel on Thursday. “It was an incredible phone call to get and I said yes.”

That doesn’t mean he’s abandoning the headset completely, however. Golf Channel reports that he will continue his work as an on-course reporter when time allows. In the short-term, that includes next week’s Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas.

“I love to caddie and I loved my role with NBC/Golf Channel,” he told the network, “but it’s Justin Thomas.”

Thomas has long worked with Jimmy Johnson – since Thomas started out as a rookie in 2015. Johnson was even inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame.

Johnson was on the bag for Thomas for many major milestones, including the 2017 PGA Championship (which remains Thomas’s sole major title), the 2017 FedEx Cup title and most recently, his 2021 Players Championship victory.

Mackay caddied for Thomas when he won the 2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

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