tour split

Justin Thomas parts ways with caddie Jim 'Bones' Mackay

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One of the PGA TOUR’s most popular player-caddie duos has split. Justin Thomas announced Wednesday that he and caddie Jim “Bones” MacKay have parted ways.

“While incredibly difficult for me to say, Bones and I have parted ways,” Thomas wrote in a social media post. “I’m going to be forever thankful for him joining me on the bag in 2021. The things we’ve been able to accomplish together – The PGA Championship in 2022, The Presidents Cup, The Ryder Cups were all unforgettable experiences. His wisdom on and off the course has been a blessing during a tough stretch of my career and he was there every step of the way.”

Thomas and Mackay joined forces in September 2021, instantly forming one of the most recognizable tandems in the sport. Their lone win as a team came at the 2022 PGA Championship.

Mackay, who spent 25 years as Phil Mickelson’s caddie, has become one of the most popular loopers in the modern era. Prior to taking Thomas’ bag, Mackay spent four years as an on-course reporter for NBC Sports and Golf Channel. Mackay filled in intermittently on broadcasts during Thomas’ off weeks, including as the lead analyst at the Mexico Open at Vidanta last March. Mackay left those duties full-time when he took the job with Thomas, saying at the time, “I love to caddie and I loved my role with NBC/Golf Channel, but it’s Justin Thomas.”

Thomas won his second major championship with Mackay on the bag, the aforementioned 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, but otherwise struggled to maintain his torrid early-career pace. Thomas has 15 PGA TOUR victories but only four have come since the start of 2020. Thomas had the worst season of his career in 2022-23, missing the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time. It was his first season without a win since 2014-15.

Thomas rebounded with four top 15s in his first five events of 2024, including a season-best T3 at The American Express. Thomas is 31st in the FedExCup standings and 28th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

“I know there are great things coming for both of us down the road,” Thomas said of Mackay. “I wish him the best of luck and will always count him and his family amongst my friends.”

Thomas did not name a replacement for Mackay. Thomas is not in the field for this week’s Valero Texas Open. He is in the field for the Masters.

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AUGUSTA, Georgia : After largely managing to keep a lid on any lingering friction from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf drama during Masters week, bitterness and concern surfaced on Thursday following the ceremonial opening tee shots.

Although both sides have struck a conciliatory tone as officials work to hammer out an agreement to unify the sport, golfing greats Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson were less diplomatic after launching the year's first major.

South African Player, 88, three-times winner at Augusta National, declared that loyalty must be rewarded and American Watson, 74, twice Masters champion, lamented the fractured state of the sport.

American Nicklaus, 84, owner of a record six Green Jackets, said the only solution was to have the best back playing against each other.

The frank views came a day after LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, unwelcome at Augusta National, thumbed his nose at officials when he appeared at Wednesday's practice as a ticketed patron, the Washington Post reported, in a show of support for his 13 players in the Masters field.

Player was clear that if he was playing today he would not be in the forgive and forget camp.

"Anytime in any business whatsoever, not only in the golf business, there's confrontation, it's unhealthy," Player said. "You've got to get together and come to a solution. If you cannot, it's not good.

"It's a big problem because they paid all these guys to join the LIV Tour. Fortunes, I mean, beyond one's comprehension.

"Now these guys come back and play, I really believe the players who are loyal should be compensated in some way or another. Otherwise, there's going to be dissension."

A deal between Saudi-backed LIV Golf and the PGA Tour was expected to be announced before the Masters but has yet to materialise.

The negotiations are believed to include compensation for those who stood by the PGA Tour should LIV members be welcomed back to take part in tournaments from which they are currently banned.

Nicklaus, record 18-times major winner and once reported to be a target for LIV Golf, said only one goal mattered and that was getting the game's top players going toe-to-toe as they are this week.

"The best outcome is the best players play against each other all the time," said Nicklaus. "That's what I feel about it."

Watson believes the solution lies with the players, rather than officials.

"We all know golf is fractured with the LIV Tour and the PGA Tour doing the different things they are doing," Watson said.

"We all know it's a difficult situation for professional golf right now.

"We want to get together like we were at that Champions Dinner, happy, the best players playing against each other.

"The bottom line is that's what we want in professional golf and right now we don't have it."

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Solar eclipse 2024: Follow the path of totality

Solar eclipse, worried about eclipse damage to your eyes don't panic.

Geoff Brumfiel

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Junior Espejo looks through eclipse glasses being handed out by NASA in Houlton, Maine. Used correctly, eclipse glasses prevent eye damage. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

Junior Espejo looks through eclipse glasses being handed out by NASA in Houlton, Maine. Used correctly, eclipse glasses prevent eye damage.

Tens of millions of Americans will have spent the day staring at a total solar eclipse, and at least a few of them may become worried that they inadvertently damaged their eyes.

But experts say there's no need to panic — the vast majority of eclipse viewers are probably fine. And even if somebody did strain their eyes, the effects could be temporary.

During the 2017 total solar eclipse it's estimated that 150 million Americans viewed the event. There were around 100 documented cases of eye damage across all of America and Canada, according to Ralph Chou, an expert on eclipse eye safety with the University of Waterloo in Canada.

Far more people turned up in emergency rooms worried that they'd damaged their eyes. Many complained of watery eyes or blurred vision, but in most cases they were fine, according to Avnish Deobhakta, an ophthalmologist at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, one of the largest eye hospitals in the nation.

The reason it's hard to do real damage is simple — the human eye has evolved to avoid staring directly at the sun.

"It's so bright that we're not actually capable of looking at it without either tearing or sort of not really feeling comfortable staring at this ball of light," Deobhakta says.

Shots - Health News

Here's what it looks like when you fry your eye in an eclipse.

In the rare case that someone does damage their eyes, that damage usually shows up as a blurry spot in the field of vision , hours or up to a day after watching the eclipse. In about half of cases, the problem fixes itself, but permanent damage can sometimes occur.

Anticipating the post-eclipse ocular anxiety, at least one eye clinic in Buffalo, N.Y., is offering free eye checks immediately after the eclipse on April 8.

It's always a good idea to get your eyes checked, whether or not there's an eclipse. So if you're worried at all, go ahead and use the opportunity to schedule your annual exam.

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