Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay returning to the PGA Tour full-time

Four years after putting down Phil Mickelson’s bag for the last time, Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay is making a return to the PGA Tour. 

He is the new, full-time caddie for major champion and former world No.1 Justin Thomas. 

Mackay confirmed the news to the Golf Channel, revealing that he is taking over from Thomas’ long-standing bagman Jimmy Johnson.

“It came out of left field very recently,” said Mackay. “It was an incredible phone call to get and I said yes.

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“I have just tremendous respect for [Thomas] as a person and a player,” 

Mackay spent a quarter of century caddying for Phil Mickelson before standing down in 2017 to take up a new role as an on-course reporter for NBC Sports and the Golf Channel. 

He has previously caddied for Thomas on a stand-in basis, first stepping in to the void when Johnson was injured during the 2018 Sony Open.

He also filled in on a couple of occasions in 2020, first at the Memorial Tournament and again at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational, which Thomas won by three shots.

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Johnson, recently inducted into the “Caddie Hall of Fame”, had been on Thomas’ bag since the American’s rookie year in 2015 and helped him reach world No.1 in 2018, less than a year after he won his maiden major. 

It is understood that Mackay will continue his media role in weeks that Thomas’ ‘off’ weeks.