When Matthew Fitzpatrick received a text message from Jim “Bones” Mackay asking if he needed a fill-in caddie at the Workday Charity Open and the Memorial, Fitzpatrick nearly lost his mind and wondered if someone was playing a practical joke on him.
“I was absolutely shocked,” Fitzpatrick said. “He mentioned that he’d spoke to Aneel (Bhusri, Workday’s CEO) and I was looking for a caddie. When he mentioned that, I thought no one could be making it up. So yeah, we sort of exchanged a few texts and figured some things out, and then yeah, here we are.”
Mackay, 53, who spent 25 years on Phil Mickelson’s bag, including 41 victories and all five of his major titles, has been a TV commentator for NBC Sports and Golf Channel since parting ways with Mickelson in 2017, and last worked at the Players Championship in March.
“When the PGA Tour got restarted I was envious of the guys being back out here, whether it’s TV, caddying, what have you,” Mackay said. “To have this opportunity to be out here with the fellas in the sun getting a bit of exercise is a fantastic feeling.”
Fitzpatrick is without his regular caddie Billy Foster, who has worked for the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood in the past, but elected to stay home in England rather than risk contracting coronavirus traveling to the U.S., and having to quarantine for 14 days upon entry (and again when returning home). Fitzpatrick used another experienced hand, Cayce Kerr, in his previous three starts since the Tour’s resumption last month.
Potential was there
Mackay first got an up-close view of the 25-year-old Englishman’s enormous potential when Mickelson was paired with Fitzpatrick, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, at the 2014 U.S. Open.
“I knew two things,” Mackay said. “That he was a really good player and a really good guy. When I heard kind of through the grapevine that some of the European caddies weren’t coming over because of the quarantine issues and I heard Billy in particular wasn’t coming with Matt, I thought, my goodness I’m going to reach out to this guy because I love to caddie, I still consider myself a caddie to this day who’s just doing TV, and I said, ‘Hey, if I can help out at all I’d love to do it.’ And he said, ‘I’m all set the first three but the two in Ohio would be great,’ and I said, ‘I’ll see you there.’ It worked out wonderfully.”
Mackay also likened Fitzpatrick’s ball flight to that of four-time major champion Brooks Koepka.
“I love working for guys where if you’re hitting the ball into an 8-mile-an-hour wind all of a sudden, you can say, ‘Can you take that down a level or two?’ And the club will get there, so to speak. I think a big part of playing well at this level is being able to flight the ball nicely, and he’s got that in spades,” Mackay said.
Fitzpatrick has won five times on the European Tour and ranks No. 26 in the Official World Golf Ranking, 15th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. The Englishman is still seeking his maiden title on the PGA Tour and believes the knowledge that Mackay brings to the table could make a difference.
“Everyone knows sort of his place in the game and how well he’s done,” Fitzpatrick said. “It kind of makes you feel better about your own game that someone of that stature has belief in your game. … I have a little bit of extra confidence, I guess. And it might be false confidence, but either way it’s certainly a big help in my opinion.”
Fitzpatrick said he expects Foster to re-join him at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational later this month and be on his bag for the PGA Championship the following week, Aug. 6-9. In the meantime, he should be in good hands with Mackay, who first came to Muirfield Village Golf Club in 1990, and came out of retirement in 2018 at the Sony Open to caddie for Justin Thomas when his caddie, Jimmy Johnson, was sidelined with a foot injury.
“The one thing I am lucky to have is a good memory,” Mackay said. “I’ve seen (Muirfield Village) in an array of different conditions, different winds. It’s a question of me learning Matt’s game as quickly as I can and if he’s got a question for me I’d better be able to answer it. That’s my job as his caddie.”
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