‘Bloody Lip Covered in Dirt’: 6 Years After Their Split, Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay Reveals a Hilariously Story Involving a Young Phil Mickelson

Golf is the only sport where you witness a golfer being followed around by a caddie. When discussing the players’ achievements, we frequently forget their names, but one thing is certain: they are vital to the golfers’ professional careers. Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay is well-known to golf fans for his charismatic 25-year caddie-golfer partnership with LIV golfer Phil Mickelson.

Many contend that Mackay is the industry’s top caddie. Bones is currently the looper for Justin Thomas after splitting up with ‘Lefty’ in 2017. Despite having a wealth of knowledge and working with golf’s biggest names, one thing still haunts him, and after the long six year split, it involves a young Lefty!

Jim Mackay talks about his biggest mistake

Recently, Golf.com shared a video of Bones talking with Claire Rogers. In the video, they discussed many topics, like how Bones got his nickname and his experience caddying for Justin Thomas, before landing on his biggest caddie mistake.

Bones talked about his experience caddying for Mickelson in the 1993 Perrier de Paris Tournament. He said Mickelson’s shots on Saturday broke the course record. On Sunday, ‘Lefty’ played so remarkably at the 16th hole that he went from the 50th position, to tie for first. Bones added that the players had to walk through the tunnel underground to reach the 17th tee. There, Bones decided to go over the tunnel rather than under and through. So when he was walking downhill, suddenly he fell, and the bag he was holding fell with him.

After the embarrassing moment, he picked himself up and collected the bag. Soon Bones realized that there were only six clubs in the bag, and now he had to find eight more clubs. But he ended up finding all the clubs, and eventually went back to Mickelson.

“Phil’s now on the next day going where the hell is this guy? I want to win this golf tournament. I show up. I’ve got a bloody lip covered in dirt. I think I’ve got all his golf clubs. He’s like, did you get mugged? What in the hell happened? Anyway, so that was, you know, embarrassing. Fortunately, he went on and won that tournament,” said Bones.

He finally ended his story on the lighter note saying that having such a long profession might lead to crazy things happening to oneself! “But you know, if you’re out here long enough, all kinds of crazy things are gonna happen to you. You’re going to see it happen. And it’s going to happen to you. And I’ve been through all of that.”

Not only did Mackay discuss his biggest error, but also his biggest takeaway.

Bones talked about his biggest lesson as a caddie

Bones poured his heart out as he spoke about his best lesson. He claimed that after serving as a caddie for so long, one can never really understand how fantastic some golfers’ games are. He claimed that the finest players on the course simply fascinate him with their skill.

“These guys are so darn good you know that they can go out there and play the round of their lives to win these huge tournaments”

He brought up Justin Thomas’ match and talked about how Mickelson’s final round of the British Open in 2013, was the best round of golf he had ever witnessed. He was also enthralled with Tiger Woods’ performance.

“…and you know the best round of golf I ever saw Phil play was the last round of the British Open in 2013 to win by you know coming from five back and of course tiger with all the stuff he did it’s just some of these guys are just Next Level incredible yeah,” said Mackay.

What do you think about Jim Mackay’s biggest mistake and his experiences with amazing golfers throughout his career? Let us know in the comments below.