The numbers were a little off. And that doesn’t happen with Joe Greiner too often.
The caddie for Max Homa asked his longtime buddy and employer how he’d feel about his attempting to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Chambers Bay.
Griener added that the event would be held during the week of the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.
“I promised him, ‘If you qualify I’ll either take the week off or I’ll just find somebody else,’ ” Homa said on the Get a Grip podcast with his sidekick, Golf Channel’s Shane Bacon.
But Greiner’s math was off. Instead, the USGA event is smack dab in the middle of next week’s PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.
This left Homa in a tough spot — without a caddie for a major tournament.
But Griener had an alternate plan, offering up his friend Jim “Bones” Mackay as his interim replacement.
Homa was thrilled.
“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, who is currently No. 74 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings and No. 39 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Of course, Mackay was an instant success upon joining NBC Sports and Golf Channel telecasts after a quarter-century on the bag for Phil Mickelson. The two mutually parted ways back in 2017 and he’s been dabbling ever since, showing up on the bag for Justin Thomas, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Jimmy Walker.
Matthew Fitzpatrick and caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay look on from the second hole during the final round of the 2020 Memorial Tournament on July 19, 2020 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Mackay was on Thomas’ bag during a win at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in 2020 and also worked the PGA Championship the following week. He helped Fitzpatrick to a third-place finish at the Memorial last year as well.
“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,” Homa said. “Joe has learned his way into this. Not that Bones didn’t, but he’s been doing this forever.”