Phil Mickelson's former caddie Jim 'Bones' Mackay lands broadcasting job

Jim “Bones” Mackay will start carrying a microphone.

The longtime wingman for Phil Mickelson will join NBC and Golf Channel as an on-course reporter, the network announced Thursday. He’ll cover the British Open at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, later this month, the FedExCup playoffs at the end of the season and the Presidents Cup.

“This is a great day for me,” Mackay said in a conference call. “I’m absolutely overjoyed to join the NBC golf team. I have so much to learn. I can’t wait to get the whole process going.”

Mackay and Mickelson stunned the golf world last month when they announced they’d no longer be working together after a 25-year partnership, saying it was “time for a change.” The duo, famous and entertaining for their loquacious deliberations before shots, walked stride-for-stride for all but one of Lefty’s 42 PGA Tour titles, including five major championships, plus multiple triumphs in the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup.

Mickelson’s brother, Tim, will be on the bag the rest of the year, starting with Thursday's Greenbrier Classic. He replaced Bones in the second round of this year’s World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship when Mackay became ill. Mackay was back on the bag for the final two rounds.

The two last worked together at the FedEx St. Jude Classic last month, where Mickelson finished ninth. The last victory the two shared came in the 2013 British Open at Muirfield.

TV feels like a natural move for Mackay, who said he loves the game and was a golf rat as a kid.

“I would watch everything from start to finish. I would read golf magazines from beginning to end,” Mackay said. “I’ve always been fascinated by the game at this level. Certainly when I was lucky enough to get to caddie on the PGA Tour you take in everything around you.

“I loved watching what the TV guys do. It’s intriguing. I think it’s yet another fascinating aspect of the golf world.”

This won’t be Mackay’s first announcing gig. He and fellow caddie John Wood worked alongside each other during Golf Channel’s coverage of the 2015 RSM Classic. NBC said Mackay, 51, is the first full-time caddie to be signed to a broadcasting role.

Tommy Roy, lead producer for golf for NBC and a longtime friend of Mackay’s, said, “Bones thinks like a producer.” That when the two would have dinners, the conversation never centered on Mackay and Mickelson. Roy said Mackay always thought bigger picture and storylines.

“Those things usually take time to get ingrained in you, to think like a producer, and he already has that,” Roy said. “He’s a great communicator. He’s already prepared with other ideas of what he can bring to the telecast.”

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