Longtime caddie Bones Mackay gives 'secret' Masters rooting interest, intel on technology in the sport

2 months ago 27

Bones Mackay is backmost astatine Augusta National this week, a people wherever helium caddied Phil Mickelson to 3 greenish jackets.

The 59-year-old caddie didn't marque the travel past year, arsenic helium and Justin Thomas separated conscionable a week earlier the tourney aft astir two-and-a-half years of moving together.

But now, arsenic an expert for NBC again, he's connected the telephone for the contented dissimilar immoderate other.

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Jim "Bones" Mackay walks to the putting greenish during a signifier circular for The Masters astatine Augusta National Golf Club. (Kyle Terada-USA Today Network)

And, similar galore of us, helium has 1 circumstantial rooting interest.

"I deliberation Scottie Scheffler’s the favorite, but nary question Rory McIlroy is the sentimental favorite," Mackay said successful a caller interrogation with Fox News Digital. "You would hatred to spot a feline similar Rory play his full vocation and not triumph the Masters and reap the benefits of the champions meal and having that greenish jacket. He’s excessively bully a feline and has done excessively overmuch to the crippled for that not to happen. As overmuch arsenic Scottie is the betting favorite, I secretly volition beryllium rooting for Rory to person a bully week."

This year, McIlroy is capable to usage IBM Hole Insights to effort to get that long-coveted jacket. IBM Hole Insights 2.0 leverages watsonx technologies, including the Granite LLM, to connection data-driven insights astir each changeable taken connected each spread astatine Augusta National.

Golfers, and adjacent fans, tin spot implicit 180,000 past shots and shot positions to springiness discourse for each spread arsenic good arsenic insights from past Masters Tournament caddies.

Golf Channel on-course newsman Bones Mackay during the archetypal circular of the Sony Open play tourney astatine Waialae Country Club.

Bones said the exertion is present afloat successful usage for golfers and caddies alike.

"It’s a diagnostic that’s incredibly adjuvant for players and caddies, due to the fact that they tin spot what’s going connected on the play people anterior to their rounds, cheque retired and spot however definite holes are playing," said Mackay. "It’s starting to instrumentality implicit now. You’ll person players that get retired determination and person this accusation from IBM and accidental ‘I perfectly cannot deed it successful the near bunker connected the 4th spread astatine Augusta National contiguous based connected wherever the emblem is.’ It gives you a existent thought of what you should and shouldn’t do, it enhances the instrumentality experiences, and conscionable gives you an thought of the nuances of this play people that Augusta National is, due to the fact that there’s nary different people similar it."

McIlroy is inactive absent a greenish jacket, and his large drought has reached implicit a decennary aft winning 4 earlier the property of 26. He astir took location the U.S. Open past year, but helium missed 2 putts worthy 6.5 feet successful 2 of the last 3 holes, each portion Bryson DeChambeau had a legendary up-and-down connected 18 astatine Pinehurst.

McIlroy has contended before, but adjacent his last circular 81 successful 2012 inactive looms.

"At Augusta National, it tin surely get successful your caput a small bit. It’s truthful overmuch easier to triumph the tourney a 2nd and 3rd clip than it is the archetypal time," Mackay said. "Scottie is ever going to person that greenish jacket. He’s ever going to travel backmost to the Tuesday nighttime dinner, and Rory desperately wants to beryllium a portion of that. He’s got a crippled perfectly suited to this play course, but it’s much of a intelligence conflict than it is simply a carnal one."