Justin Thomas' caddie Bones just dropped a great Phil Mickelson story!
Jim "Bones" Mackay has shared an hilarious story from when he started caddying for Justin Thomas that involved the influence Phil Mickelson had on him.
When you've caddied for Phil Mickelson for 25 years, won 41 times on the PGA Tour and five majors - the chances are Jim "Bones" Mackay, who now loops for Justin Thomas, has more than a few stories to tell.
Bones split with Mickelson in 2017 and ever since then Lefty has had his brother Tim on the bag.
Thomas had Jimmy Johnson on the bag for six years. When he was ill, JT turned to Bones on the odd occasion.
Related: Justin Thomas teases Netflix golf documentary
When Thomas split with Johnson, explaining that he "100 per cent" did not fire him, he began working with Bones permanently after the experienced bag man had a stint inside the ropes working as an on-course reporter and analyst.
Bones recently joined GOLF's Subpar Podcast where he spoke on a number of topics.
One of those, of course, was the the enduring influence of the aforementioned Mickelson.
We pick up the story at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude in 2020. Bones was called in after Johnson fell ill.
Related: Justin Thomas reacts to LIV players' OWGR letter
In Thursday's first round, Thomas hit a poor tee shot into the trees down the right hand side of the hole.
Bones said his "caddie brain" just kicked in and he jogged ahead of Thomas to assess the upcoming shot, clear the area, get the yardage et cetera.
He said Thomas had 167 yards to the pin and could probably manoeuvre a cut onto the dancefloor.
This is when the hilarity ensued:
"We got these trees in front of us," Mackay said.
"The ShotLink guys are in there. There's this little kind of window in the trees and I'm like, 'OK, let's move this cable, let's move that stake, let's move this ShotLink equipment to the side.
Related: The major memento Mickelson never gave Bones
"And [Thomas] gets there, and by the time I've gone through this entire process I'm standing there ready to go, and he's now standing next to me. And he looks at me and goes, 'What are you doing?' I said, 'I'm getting everything out of the way.'
"He goes, 'I'm pitching it out sideways into the fairway.' It hit me: 'Oh, that's right, I caddied for Phil for 25 years and if there was a gap, there was no question where we were going.'"
Apparently, Thomas apologised to the ShotLink guys after all the hassle. After pitching out and getting onto the green in three shots, he failed to save his par.
But he later won the tournament by three shots.
Four players finished in T-2, including Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka and England's Tom Lewis.
The other?
Phil Mickelson.
Watch our latest YouTube video:
Ben joined the GolfMagic team in September 2021, initially as a content executive.
These days, he assumes the position of content manager.
