Yahoo Sports Jim 'Bones' Mackay to caddie for Justin Thomas full time this season after Golf Channel stint
Jim “Bones” Mackay is headed back to the bag.
Mackay, who spent 25 years caddying for Phil Mickelson on the PGA Tour, will now caddie for Justin Thomas full time this season, he told the Golf Channel on Thursday.
Mackay has spent the past four seasons working as an analyst for NBC Sports and the Golf Channel, but has filled in for Thomas multiple times in recent years.
“It came out of left field very recently,” Mackay said, via the Golf Channel. “I have just tremendous respect for [Thomas] as a person and a player. It was an incredible phone call to get and I said yes.”
Thomas, who is currently ranked No. 6 in the Official World Golf Rankings, won once on Tour last season at The Players Championship — which marked his 14th career win. He had 15 top-25 finishes on the year, too, including at both U.S. Opens, both Masters, and in all three of the FedExCup Playoffs events.
Mackay jumped on the bag twice for Thomas in 2020 after Thomas’ longtime caddie, Jimmy Johnson, was injured. Mackay caddied for Thomas at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational last season, an event Thomas won by three strokes, and then was with him at the PGA Championship the following week.
Johnson — who has been with Thomas since his full Tour season in 2015 after stints caddying for Nick Price and Steve Stricker — was inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame earlier this year.
Mackay will continue working as an analyst for the Golf Channel, but only when he is not working for Thomas. He will be on site for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas next weekend.
“I love to caddie and I loved my role with NBC/Golf Channel, but it’s Justin Thomas,” Mackay said.
