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Phil and Bones - The Stories You May Not Have Heard

By: | Mon 03 Jul 2017


THE caddie-player relationship between Phil Mickelson and Jim "Bones" Mackay was unlike any other. It survived for 25 years and, during that time, the pair became close friends.

Now it is over and Lefty will have his brother Tim on the bag. Somehow, it is impossible to believe that their partnership can ever be the same. MIckelson is a one-off and there are some great stories surrounding his time with Mackay. Like the time they came to the 72nd hole during the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in 2011. Mickelson required an eagle at the par five to force a playoff with Bubba Watson. He was 75 yards from the green in two. Mickelson paced off the exact distance to the hole and surveyed the green. And then, he asked Bones to tend the flag.

"That particular shot, I want to give it two chances to go in," Mickelson said. "I'm trying to fly it in, and if it doesn't fly in, it's going to skip and I wanted to try to bring it back." There was much amusement among the crowd surrounding the green, but Mickelson wasn't messing about. As he said afterwads: "From that sort of distance I finish about three feet from the hole 95% of the time."

He didn't hole the shot, but he very nearly did, the ball landing no more than six inches from the hole and eventually finishing two feet away. It was a moment of pure theatre, one of many involving Mickelson and Mackay. Think back to Mickelson's victory in The Open at Muirfield in 2013. When Mickelson walked off the final green he was delighted because he had never in his wildest dreams imagined that it was a tournament he could win. But take a look at Bones. The caddie was almost in tears and was utterly and completely spent because he had given so much emotionally. No caddie could feel that way without caring passionately about his employer.

There is a story about Mickelson's tees that is worth repeating. He has always favoured a particular type and length of tee and could easily have signed a contract to ensure that he received them free for life. Not a bit of it. Part of Mackay's duties was to go into the pro's shop or local golf store, armed with a plastic bag, which he then filled with the tees after paying for them. Trust us when we tell you that no other touring professional pays for his tees.

You will probably already know that no player spends as much time signing autographs for fans as Mickelson does. He will happily sign balls, caps, autograph books until nobody is left. You may not know how popular he is with both his fellow professionals and the men and women who work behind the scenes. And Bones has a particular story to tell that highlights this perfectly.

Mickelson had just won the 2004 Masters and afterwards had plenty of media obligations to fulfil. Mackay waited to say goodbye to his friend and employer. And waited. And waited.

“There we are, he’s won The Masters for the first time, it’s 6.30 on a Sunday evening and I don’t see this guy for like three or four hours,” Mackay said. “So I’m sitting in the parking lot outside the Augusta National clubhouse and it must have been 10 o’clock. I look out to Phil's car and I see some figures, it’s pitch dark out there, and it’s Phil and these two or three other people around him.”

Bones didn't recognise the men Mickelson was with. “So I walk up there to kind of help with packing the bag, and as I walk up to him I see these guys are hugging Phil,” Mackay said. “They’re not just hugging him, it’s like an emotional hug. I’m like, ‘Man, who are these guys hugging Phil?' It turns out these are the guys that work in the lower locker room at Augusta National and Phil has been tipping all these years and taking such good care of. But now that Phil’s won The Masters he’s going to the champions locker room and these guys are losing him forever and they’re just devastated. So they’re hugging it out in the parking lot and I thought, ‘That’s really cool.'”

Topping all of that, however, is a story that emerged from The Open at Royal Troon in 2016. Mickelson and Henrik Stenson had produced 18 holes of scarcely believable golf, exchanging birdies on what seemed like just about every hole. It was an amazing performance that thrilled everybody who witnessed it, with most pundits believing that it even eclipsed the legendary Duel In The Sun featuring Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus when they blitzed Turnberry in 1977.

Spectators at the course and watching on television were enthralled. Nobody wanted it to ever come to an end. However, not everybody felt the same way. As the players walked off the 13th tee, an R&A official approached Bones.

“Henrik and Phil had both just driven and I’m the last guy off the tee," he said. "I’m walking off and this guy goes, ‘Excuse me, will you please run up there and let those guys know they need to catch up with the group in front of them?'”

Sadly, the official was not joking. "I thought to myself, ‘Are you kidding me right now?'” Mackay said. “These guys are putting on the show of shows out there, the whole world is watching and you want me to run up there and tell these guys that you’ve got a problem with what’s going on out there?

"I told him I wasn't going to say anything. Boy, these guys can’t leave well enough alone sometimes,” Mackay said.

Perhaps he had a pressing engagement with a large gin and tonic.

And so, more than 600 tournaments and 46 victories together, including five majors, Bones and Mickelson head their separate ways. It is safe to say that a partnership like this will never be seen again. It is also worth noting that in the lead-up to the US Open at Erin Hills, Mackay spent three days surveying the course Hills for his boss, on the small chance that weather delays could allow Mickelson the opportunity to attend his daughter's high school graduation and still make his opening-round tee time. Sadly, it didn't happen.


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