MATT GETS A BAG OF BONES

LEGEND MACKAY TO HELP BRITON

MATT FITZPATRICK is banking on some caddie stardust turning PGA Tour promise into an imminent dollar bonanza.

The Sheffield pro, a five-time winner on the European Tour, is yet to register a top10 finish since the restart across the Atlantic but has teamed up with Phil Mickelson’s long-time bagman Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay for the next two events.

Fitzpatrick worked with the caddyshack legend yesterday for the first time ahead of the Workday Open in Ohio which begins tomorrow, admitting he was taken aback to be approached by Mackay.

“I was absolutely shocked. Everyone knows his place in the game and how well he’s done,” said

Fitzpatrick. “My caddie Billy Foster is in the UK and he knew that I was looking for someone for a couple of weeks. “Just having someone who’s achieved so much and has so much experience, it kind of makes you feel better that someone of that stature has belief in your game. So for me it absolutely gives me confidence going into the week.

“It might be false confidence, but either way it’s certainly a big help.”

Foster will join up with Fitzpatrick for the St Jude Invitational WGC event later this month but, until then, it will be Mackay guiding the 25-year-old after putting his TV commentary work on ice. “Having seen Matt play for several years now I knew two things – that he was a really good player and a really good guy,” said Mackay.

“When I heard through the grapevine that some of the European caddies were not coming because of the quarantine issues and I heard Billy wasn’t coming. I thought, ‘I’m going to reach out. “Matt thinks things through very carefully which makes my job easier and if he’s got something that he’s curious about, I hope to have the answer.”