Long considered a yes-man, caddie Jim MacKay talked Phil Mickelson into making the sensible play at a critical moment in Hartford

Courtesy of ABC

By Bryan Gathright
One of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers

Phil Mickelson's longtime caddie, Jim (Bones) MacKay, has taken a lot of flack for idly standing by while his hyperaggressive boss has imploded because of reckless shotmaking down the stretch. Bones seems to have heeded the criticism, because during the final round of the Greater Hartford Open he was a forceful presence who refused to allow his boss to blast himself into oblivion.

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NO BONES ABOUT IT Mickelson was tied for the lead at 12 under par when he ripped a drive down the fairway on the par-5 13th hole, leaving him 240 yards to a pin that was tucked nine yards from the edge of a pond. Mickelson pulled out a three-iron and wanted to go for broke (above, left). Bones urged him to play a safer shot short of the green (above, right). In the end Mickelson took Bones's advice, laying up and then chipping to gimme distance for the birdie that pushed him into the lead. Below is a transcript of the heated two-minute, 42-second discussion on which the tournament turned.

JIM MACKAY: (as Mickelson pulls out the three-iron) If there was no wind I would still think that three-iron is a marginal carry. But we've definitely got some wind. You can feel it now. If we hit three-iron, we've got to go at that second [TV] tower on the right.

PHIL MICKELSON: You're not thinking three-wood, are you?

JM: No, I'm thinking about hitting a three-iron up the right side, trying to land on the very righthand part of the green.

PM: How about if I were to go between the pin and the TV tower, over the reeds?

JM: It's still going to be almost as much of a carry as if you went at the flag. (Mickelson, waggling the three-iron, clenches his teeth.)

PM: You're basically saying to [lay up] into a four-yard area.

JM: Well, then we can play right of the green and get up and down.

PM: (defiantly) I got to think this is enough. It's warm. If I bust a draw, turn it over....

JM: (interrupting) We've got a 10-mile wind straight into us. If we had the two-iron in the bag, it would be a good two. But we just have the three. You can hit that just right of the green. That'll be perfect.

(Mickelson addresses the ball and then backs off.)

PM: I don't like that play because I feel like I'm trying to draw it into a four-yard area that's pulling it to the right. If I'm not going to go at the green, let me just not go at the green and use the slope. Otherwise let me take three-wood. I think three-iron is enough to go right at it.

JM: Just go to the right.

PM: (staring blankly at the green) O.K.

WORTH EVERY PENNY Pros often gripe about how much they pay their caddies, but Bones's gutsy stand justified his hefty fee. Mickelson got $720,000 for the victory, while joint runners-up Jonathan Kaye and Davis Love III each received $352,000. Even after giving Bones the customary 10%, Mickelson came out ahead.

Bryan Gathright, 43, teaches at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio and is one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 teachers.

Issue date: July 1, 2002