"Being Bones"

Cameron Morfit files an engaging profile of Jim "Bones" Mackay, who is more than Phil Mickelson's luggage man.

Long before the world of golf or anyone else knew who Mackay was, he was an English schoolboy, if only briefly. When he was 7, his British parents packed up the family — Jim, Tom and sister Lesley — and alighted for New Smyrna Beach, Fla. (They liked vacationing there, they reasoned, so why not live there?) The town had a Donald Ross municipal course where Mackay could play for free after three o'clock.

He wasn't an exceptional golfer, but good enough to play for Division II Columbus College in Georgia, which led to a job in the pro shop and bag room at Green Island Country Club in Columbus. It was there that he met Larry Mize, the first player to take Mackay out on Tour.

From Mize, Mackay moved on to Scott Simpson in 1992, and soon after Bones earned his shot with a four-time All-American at Arizona State with a jauntily upturned collar.