AUGUSTA, Ga. – Purple Skittles.
That is the type of candy that Justin Thomas likes and it came up during his pre-tournament press conference when discussing what makes Jim “Bones” Mackay a special caddie.
“Bones is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen. He does a great job and all the other little extra aspects. He’s a good listener. He’s one of those people where you’ll be having a conversation about something, and three, four months down the road, he’ll get you a gift of that little thing, that little candy you were talking about that you liked,” Thomas said. “I wish I had that trait because I forget things after a week. My fiancee (Jill) could probably vouch for that.”
It begged the question of what type of candy Bones had remembered.
“It was more of an example. It hasn’t actually happened,” Thomas explained. “Yeah, he brought something to Jill when she was talking about something a couple weeks later. But no candy yet for me. But if you’re listening, Bones, I like purple Skittles.”
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This is the first major that Bones has been on the bag for Thomas, who parted ways with Jimmy Johnson after six years and 13 PGA Tour victories together in late September. Bones spent 25 years on the bag with Phil Mickelson and was by his side for his first five majors before becoming a standout TV commentator for Golf Channel/NBC. Bones previously subbed at a few events for Johnson when he was sidelined, and he and Thomas developed immediate chemistry that included a victory for Thomas at the 2020 WGC FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. Thomas has been nothing but complimentary of his former caddie, who opted to step away from the job after the 2020-21 season, while noting that Bones brings some unique traits to the job.
“He never wants to be underprepared. He wants to make sure he does everything he can so that he makes it feel like we have the best chance we can to win. And that’s very comforting as a player because I have all the faith in the world in my caddie, and all of us do,” Thomas said. “We want to know that, if we’re going to ask them a question, they’re going to answer it not only honestly but with what they feel is the appropriate information.”
Already this season the addition of veteran caddie Ted Scott, who was Bubba Watson’s caddie for his two Masters wins, has paid big dividends for Scottie Scheffler. That duo has won three times in a span of five tournaments and climbed to World No. 1 with their latest victory at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Could Bones, who has more than 20 years of experience studying the intricacies of Augusta National, provide a similar boost to Thomas’ hopes at the Masters? Thomas, 28, could use a jump start at the majors, wherewith the exception of winning the 2017 PGA Championship he’s recorded just four other top-10 finishes in 24 starts. Asked if he feels he’s underachieved at the majors, Thomas replied, “I know I have. I have not even close to performed well in my entire career in majors. I had a good year in ’17. I had one good major there at the PGA, I think in ’18, and played well at the Masters here in ’20 (Masters-best fourth). But in terms of a result standpoint, which is at the end of the day is all that matters when it comes to tournaments is how you finish at the end of the week, but no, I feel like I’ve performed very, very poorly.”
Thomas has a theory on what has held him back from reaching his full potential in the majors.
“I’ve just put too much pressure on myself in the past and maybe put the tournament on too much of a pedestal and tried to, you know, just overdo things when in reality I should have faith in my game,” he said. “I just need to get a little bit better at kind of getting in my own world and just going to play golf.”
And if Bones is listening, don’t forget to load the bag with purple Skittles.
