Why Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay says this caddie is the most enjoyable person he’s ever played with
Jim "Bones" Mackay (left) and Michael Greller (right) are good buddies on and off the course.
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Jim “Bones” Mackay is one of the most successful caddies in the world of professional golf.
He started out by looping for the likes of Larry Mize, Scott Simpson and Curtis Strange before embarking on a 25-year stint with Phil Mickelson. When Mackay and Mickelson parted ways in 2017, Mackay started working as an on-course reporter for NBC/Golf Channel until he returned to caddying in 2021 to work with Justin Thomas.
When you’ve been around the Tour for as long as Mackay has, you end up knowing just about everyone in the pro golf orbit pretty well, especially the other caddies.
What Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay told Justin Thomas in inspirational PGA range ‘talk’
On this week’s episode of Subpar, Mackay explained to hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz why Jordan Spieth’s longtime looper, Michael Greller, is the best golf buddy you could ask for.
“To anybody out there, if you’ve got a member-guest coming up, send a private jet for Michael Greller,” Mackay said. “Because A., he will be the most amazing partner you’ll ever have. He will drink and smoke cigars with you, and he will bring it on the golf course.
“We found out about Greller — you know, my joke about Greller is that he can’t hit a 7-iron over a car because he hits it so low — but we realized when we went on this trip in the U.K., where he was playing as like a 6 or a 7 [handicap] and I was playing at like a 4, that he hits it so hard and so low, he’s hitting it 420 off the tee over there, and he was virtually unbeatable. So we had so much fun, and we’re destroying guys we’re playing against at Muirfield and St. Andrews, and we had a blast.”
“If your course is soft, don’t call him,” Knost joked.
“He’s the most enjoyable person to play golf with I’ve ever played golf with in my life,” Mackay said. “And that includes some touring pros and this and that. [Joe] La Cava’s the same way, but Greller is next-level fun to play golf with.”
For more from Mackay, including how he got his famous nickname, and a fun story from his first day looping for Justin Thomas, check out the full interview below.
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