Jim “Bones” Mackay said he has lots of friends competing at Augusta this week, but one player in particular has his rooting interest.
Bones Mackay is back at Augusta National this week, a course where he caddied Phil Mickelson to three green jackets.
The 59-year-old caddie didn’t make the trip last year, as he and Justin Thomas separated just a week before the tournament after roughly two-and-a-half years of working together.
But now, as an analyst for NBC again, he’s on the call for the tradition unlike any other.
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And, like many of us, he has one specific rooting interest.
“I think Scottie Scheffler’s the favorite, but no question Rory McIlroy is the sentimental favorite,” Mackay said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. “You would hate to see a guy like Rory play his entire career and not win the Masters and reap the benefits of the champions dinner and having that green jacket. He’s too good a guy and has done too much to the game for that not to happen. As much as Scottie is the betting favorite, I secretly will be rooting for Rory to have a good week.”
This year, McIlroy is able to use IBM Hole Insights to try to get that long-coveted jacket. IBM Hole Insights 2.0 leverages watsonx technologies, including the Granite LLM, to offer data-driven insights around every shot taken on every hole at Augusta National.
Golfers, and even fans, can see over 180,000 past shots and ball positions to give context for each hole as well as insights from past Masters Tournament caddies.
Bones said the technology is now fully in use for golfers and caddies alike.
“It’s a feature that’s incredibly helpful for players and caddies, because they can see what’s going on on the golf course prior to their rounds, check out and see how certain holes are playing,” said Mackay. “It’s starting to take over now. You’ll have players that get out there and have this information from IBM and say ‘I absolutely cannot hit it in the left bunker on the fourth hole at Augusta National today based on where the flag is.’ It gives you a real idea of what you should and shouldn’t do, it enhances the fan experiences, and just gives you an idea of the nuances of this golf course that Augusta National is, because there’s no other course like it.”
McIlroy is still absent a green jacket, and his major drought has reached over a decade after winning four before the age of 26. He nearly took home the U.S. Open last year, but he missed two putts worth 6.5 feet in two of the final three holes, all while Bryson DeChambeau had a legendary up-and-down on 18 at Pinehurst.
McIlroy has contended before, but even his final round 81 in 2012 still looms.
“At Augusta National, it can certainly get in your head a little bit. It’s so much easier to win the tournament a second and third time than it is the first time,” Mackay said. “Scottie is always going to have that green jacket. He’s always going to come back to the Tuesday night dinner, and Rory desperately wants to be a part of that. He’s got a game perfectly suited to this golf course, but it’s more of a mental battle than it is a physical one.”
McIlroy will tee off with Ludvig Aberg and Akshay Bhatia at 1:12 p.m. ET on Thursday.
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