Phil Mickelson seems to have moved on to a new chapter in his life as a professional golfer. After bidding goodbye to his brother Tim Mickelson as his bagman and signing Jon Yarbrough to fill in his shoes, Phil Mickelson has never been happier, or so he says.
Terming his new ally as “the best green reader I’ve ever seen,” Mickelson declared on X how his partnership with Yarbrough has helped him learn a lot. The reaction was to a video of the duo practicing their putting and making “green reading look easy.”
It seems that the 53-year-old has played his cards right by opting to go against the general expectation of going back to his ex-caddy Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay and choosing the veteran caddie of 20 years as his next potentially long-term on-course partner. But it was not so easy to get to Yarbhrough after the reputation that the LIV Golf pro has garnered in the caddy world post-breakup with Mackay over an unpaid bonus tussle. Mickelson offered the Atlanta native hefty sums of “guaranteed” money that made him bend towards him.
Carrying the experience of working with the likes of Gary Woodland, Bill Haas, Smylie Kaufman, Kelly Robbins, Morgan Pressel, and Suzann Pettersen over the years, Yarbrough’s experience as the sharpest caddie coupled with Mickelson’s lifelong experience as a golf world headliner make them a power duo worth fearing as the Masters come near. The duo has already started scouting the Augusta National GC greens, and their chemistry makes their pairing all the more interesting.
But what is the golf world’s take on this less-expected duo?
Fans react to the love note by Mickelson to Yarbrough
Seeing Mickelson and Co.’s undeterred attempts to win the famous Green Jacket, a fan wrote, “Go get that jacket!” Even though the six-time major winner has not been able to win any event on the Saudi-funded league so far, his performance at last year’s Masters, where he finished T2 alongside Brooks Koepka, 4 strokes behind Jon Rahm, stands as a witness to his golfing prowess and touch with the Augusta National Golf Course, making him an able contender this year as well.
While the golf world GOAT was busy narrating his love note to his newfound caddy, some fans were intrigued to know what it was like for him to play with his brother. One fan wrote, “Love to know- how was Tim at reading em??” In their time together, the Mickelson brothers managed to win three notable titles, namely the 2018 WGC-Mexico Championship, the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and most importantly, his sixth major title, the 2021 PGA Championship, thus reaffirming how they were also a perfect fit.
