When it comes to caddies, it takes one to know one. Ex-looper Jim “Bones” Mackay was very impressed by Michael Greller’s quick thinking on the 13th hole in the final round at Birkdale, after his man Jordan Spieth drove more than 50 yards offline and took an unplayable drop in the driving range. Greller was able to give Spieth the correct yardage, which helped Spieth keep his ensuing three-iron shot in play, even when he slightly mis-hit it. Spieth bogeyed the hole, but rebounded to play his final five holes in five under to claim the claret jug.
âYou could make the argument that was the most critical yardage ever given to a player in the history of golf,” Bones said. “Jordan is off the grid there, and Michael, once they found the ball, had to go to the top of the dune, heâs got to eyeball it back to the ball, heâs got to eyeball it toward the green, add it up, and give it to his man with hopefully the right line. If he gets that wrong, and the ball goes into a bunker or into a gorse bush, they are in a lot of trouble.
“What Michael did there, in his little piece, because obviously heâs not hitting the shot, is one of the most amazing things a caddie has ever done.â
Bones, who worked for many years with Phil Mickelson, made his Golf Channel debut as an on-course reporter at Royal Birkdale.
