Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay will return to looping duties at next week’s PGA Championship after a mix up meant that Max Homa’s caddie would be unavailable.

Speaking on the Get a Grip podcast, Homa explained that his regular caddie Joe Greiner wanted to attempt to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Chambers Bay – believing that the event was the week of the Charles Schwab Challenge.

However, after realizing the event was in the middle of this year’s PGA Championship, it left Homa stuck, but Greiner quickly found him a decent replacement in the legendary Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay.

“I’m super, super fortunate. I’ve gotten to know Bones out at Whisper Rock in Arizona and he is truly one of the nicest, greatest people I’ve ever been around.” said Homa on teaming up with Mackay.

Mackay has recently worked for NBC and Golf Channel telecasts since his split with Phil Mickelson. However, he has also worked as a fill-in caddie for Justin Thomas, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Jimmy Walker over the past couple of years.

Next week will be the first time Bones has teamed up with Homa, and it’s a prospect that the 30-year-old is relishing.

“I have the utmost respect for Joe’s caddying and I mean this is not a slight at all, so please believe me when I say that … but it’ll be really cool to be around someone like Bones,” said Homa. “Joe has learned his way into this. Not that Bones didn’t, but he’s been doing this forever.”

We’ve all heard stories about how cutthroat Monday qualifying is each week, but Kaufman’s tale is a real heartbreaker.

Kaufman missed out on a playoff by one stroke, and the crucial one stroke needed to make up the ground was a missed 1-foot putt.

The Alabama native took to Twitter on Tuesday explaining the missed 1-foot putt, which he put down to: “not realizing my ball accumulated so much water and sand” after a rain delay.

Missed a 1 footer on 12 after the rain delay not realizing my ball accumulated so much water and sand. This image can also apply to that moment as well. Miss playoff by 1. #golf https://t.co/Ky4Hk7078p

— Smylie Kaufman (@SmylieKaufman10) May 10, 2021

Golf fans were perplexed by the incident, with many not sure if Kaufman had failed to mark his ball, but it’s more likely that the putt was his second after the restart. Just brutal luck.

The 29-year-olds fall from grace has seen him drop to 1530 in the World Golf Ranking, having made just one cut worldwide since 2019.

PGA Tour professionals are imperious at looking cool under pressure, but in reality, they aren’t immune to high moments of stress.

Thanks to Whoop’s partnership with the PGA Tour, now us mere mortals can all see exactly how the best are feeling.

The most stressful moment for Rory McIlroy at Quail Hollow last week came on the 72nd hole when he hooked his 3-wood off the tee dangerously close to the water.

Per Whoop Live, the Irishman’s BPM (Beats per Minute) spiked to 140 following the tee shot. It settled back to 115 as he addressed his approach to the green but once again rose dramatically following his putt to win, with his BPM hitting a remarkable 151.

 

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Whoop, the human performance company and 24/7 fitness tracker and health monitor, became the official fitness wearable of the PGA TOUR in January.

Part of this partnership includes Whoop Live, which throughout the season will highlight player biometric data and heart rate during defining moments with real-time metrics integrated into live broadcast and digital content.