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.
