Phil Mickelson had a familiar face on the bag Friday at the Mexico Championship.
He called him "Bro," not "Bones."
Mickelson's younger brother was pressed into duty at Chapultepec Golf Club in Mexico City when Jim "Bones" Mackay fell ill and couldn't go more than three holes. Mackay was the latest player or caddie suffering from a stomach virus this week, and he gingerly stepped into a cart on the 13th hole.
That's when Tim Mickelson got the call to step in. He was at this World Golf Championship as the agent for Spanish rookie Jon Rahm, whom he coached at Arizona State.
"I was having breakfast and Phil called and said, 'Just be around if something happens,' " he said. "Jon had nothing pressing going on, so I said, 'Yeah, no problem.' So I started following and on 13 he called it a day."
They were on the par-3 13th hole, facing an uphill climb the rest of the nine -- at nearly 7,800 feet of elevation -- before making the turn. On the first full hole, Mickelson clipped a tree and made bogey. After that, they didn't miss a beat.
Mickelson finished with a 3-under 68.
"It was the first time we were able to do that, and it was fun," Tim Mickelson said. "Trust me, I don't want Bones' job, though. I have a whole new respect. Every hole seems uphill."
Mickelson and Mackay have one of the longest player-caddie relationships on the PGA Tour that dates to 1992.
It wasn't the first time someone had to fill in for Mickelson.
Former University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Coach Steve Loy, Mickelson's coach at Arizona State and now his manager, was on the bag for the 1993 Tucson Open. Mickelson took his college roommate, Rob Mangini, to Japan in 1995. Mackay once couldn't finish at the Singapore Open in 2012, and Mickelson's father-in-law filled in.
Food for thought
This alligator meant business.
On Thursday at Seven Springs Golf and Country Club in Trinity, Fla., several players were in awe as a gator strutted across the course with a gigantic fish hanging from both sides of its mouth.
"What a sight," Norma Respess said as she captured the video. "I don't want to get near you. I'm glad you got the fish."
'Forced' to fight
Mark Hunt's demeanor ahead of UFC 209 is the opposite of enthusiastic.
Hunt (12-11-1 MMA, 7-5-1 UFC), who meets Alistair Overeem (41-15 MMA, 6-4 UFC) in a heavyweight fight tonight at UFC 209, is in the midst of a legal battle with the UFC, company president Dana White and former opponent Brock Lesnar after Lesnar failed multiple drug tests around the time of his UFC 200 fight with Hunt in July.
Earlier this week, the UFC filed a motion to dismiss Hunt's case, but as of now it has yet to be ruled on. Hunt will still compete for the promotion despite the current situation, but he said that wasn't necessarily by choice.
"I was forced to be here," Hunt said Thursday at UFC 209 media day. "I was told, 'If you don't take this fight, it's against your contract.' Why should my family suffer and miss out on my hard work? They deserve to have the better things in life because I've gotten beaten up to get here, so why should they miss out? I haven't done nothing wrong here, so why should I be the outsider here? The other guy is the guy that cheated."
QUIZ
How many years was Tim Mickelson the golf coach at Arizona State?
ANSWER
Five
Sports on 03/04/2017