GULLANE, Scotland — The guy everyone in golf knows as “Bones’’ is the ultimate alter ego for his boss. He also is his boss’ best friend.
This is what makes Jim Mackay the perfect caddie for Phil Mickelson and it is the reason they have been together longer than perhaps any player-caddie team in golf history.
Bones is the anti-Phil.
He is the nagging conservative to Phil’s liberal chance-taking on the golf course. Bones is the voice of reason when Phil has no reason.
When Phil is standing over a shot and has a glint in his eye like a mischievous kid about to try getting away with something crazy, Bones is there to stop him before he does something he might regret.
Phil has won 49 times worldwide, including five major championships now, and though he has not swung a single club in any of them, Bones’ fingerprints are all over every one of those wins.
Bones is the pilot to the plane that guides Phil on the golf course. He knows exactly when to talk to Phil and what to say when he does. He knows when to leave him alone. He knows every button to push or stay away from at every critical moment.
They’d be the perfect married couple if they weren’t married to their wives — Phil to Amy and Bones to Jen, whom he met through Amy.
Bones and Phil were at their best as a team yesterday while they navigated their way around Muirfield en route to one of the defining moments in Phil’s career — a first British Open victory.
After Phil clinched victory with birdie on the 72nd hole and the two embraced in a long hug, they walked off the 18th green as one — fittingly arm-in-arm.
Afterward, the public emotions of the two were as different as their personalities.
Bones, usually stoic, was a mess, struggling to compose his raw emotions while talking through tears to reporters behind the Muirfield clubhouse.
When Phil, always the life of the party, sat before reporters a short time later, he was his usual self — upbeat, amused, engaged and thoughtful and descriptive in his answers — and there wasn’t a hint a tearful moment from him.
Phil and Amy might have shared a tear or two later in private, but Phil was completely composed in the wake of what he said was his “most fulfilling’’ career victory.
Why the tears from Bones?
“Because when you work for a guy for 21 years it’s pretty cool when you see him play the best round of his career in the last round of the British Open to win,’’ Bones said. “He played the best round of golf I’ve ever seen him play.’’
Phil said Bones “was getting choked up in the locker room,’’ adding, “This is really special for both of us. It’s a great accomplishment for us as a team and for me in my career to win this championship that has been the biggest challenge.
“We’ve had a partnership over the last 20-plus years of my career, from the time I turned pro. It’s very difficult here to pull clubs because you have three different options on every shot based on the trajectory and whether you’re working it into the wind or with the wind.
“And to pull shots or to pull clubs when you have to not only pull the right club, but you have to describe the right shot and to be descriptive and for us to be on the same page, it’s really difficult to do.
“We were on the same page all week. We did a good job together. Bones was exceptional. We sure are enjoying this. This is a great moment for us.’’