Retired ‘Bones’ back on the bag at Muirfield Village

Long-time Phil Mickelson bagman, Jim “Bones” Mackay, is coming out retirement for the PGA Tour’s two-week stretch in Ohio beginning this Thursday.

Mackay, who now works as an on-course reporter for NBC Sports, will caddie for England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick at the inaugural Workday Charity Open followed by Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament a week later.

Phil Mickelson discusses tactics with long-time caddie ‘Bones’ (Credit: www.golffile.ie)

Fitzpatrick, the World No. 26, has been forced to look for temporary caddies in the absence of his regular bagman, Billy Foster, who is sitting out the pandemic at home in England.

“The message said it was Bones, and he heard through the grapevine that I was in the market for a fill-in caddie,” Fitzpatrick told the Golf Digest.

“I told him I was honoured that he was even reaching out.”

It’s not the first time “Bones” has been tempted back on to the bag with the veteran looper helping out Justin Thomas at the 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii, where Thomas shared 14th place.