Michael Thorbjornsen enjoyed a glittering amateur career, with one of the high points being a quarterfinal appearance at the 2020 US Amateur.
Caddying for him on that occasion was a man who would go on to claim victory on the PGA Tour, Karl Vilips, who won the Puerto Rico Open five years later.
That partnership made sense as the pair were close friends. However, two years later, Thorbjornsen had another friend caddying for him during his second appearance at the US Open.
That was Drew Cohen, who was a childhood friend of Thorbjornsen, with the pair raised close to the Country Club of Brookline, where the tournament was held.
Cohen continued working with the Stanford player beyond the Major, including at the 2023 Dubai Desert Classic, where he placed T20 while still an amateur.
Thorbjornsen left the amateur game behind in 2024 after finishing top of the PGA Tour University rankings to earn his PGA Tour card, and before long, he had a considerably more experienced caddie to turn to, Tiger Woods' former bagman, Lance Bennett.
Bennett helped Thorbjornsen achieve his best finish at a Major, when he placed T25 at the 2025 PGA Championship.
However, he has since made way for another caddie with invaluable experience to help guide the young player, Collin Morikawa’s former caddie JJ Jakovac.
Morikawa built a hugely successful six-year partnership with Jakovac that included Major victories at the 2020 PGA Championship and 2021 Open. In total, he won six times on the PGA Tour with Jakovac’s help, before making a surprise switch to Joe Greiner in May 2025.
It’s not hard to see why Thorbjornsen is putting his faith in Jakovac, aside from his success with Morikawa.
The Californian has a playing background, having had success at California State University, Chico between 2000 and 2004, winning two NCAA II individual championships along the way.
Not only that, he was handed the Jack Nicklaus Award in 2004, which recognizes the most outstanding collegiate golfer in any division each year.
After leaving college, Jakovac had a professional career before spending a spell working in construction.
Eventually, his career led him to caddying, including spells alongside Matt Bettencourt, Zack Miller, John Merrick, Pete Tomasulo and Ryan Moore.
After linking up with Thorbjornsen, the pair soon began reaping the rewards, with finishes of T4 at the 2025 Rocket Classic and third at the Baycurrent Classic two of the highlights.
Into 2026, and Thorbjornsen was again finding success with Jakovac, finishing T3 at the WM Phoenix Open as the working relationship continued to go from strength to strength.
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