Winning The Masters takes more than skill. It takes unbelievable luck. Phil Mickelson's legendary caddie, Jim 'Bones' Mackay, recently shared a wild story from the 2010 tournament.

On the No Laying Up podcast, Mackay shared an interesting tale of luck and expressed his opinion. “To win a major two things have to happen. You have to play really, really well and you have to get lucky,” said on the April 1 episode.

Mackay referred to what Woods and Duval said back in the day about the factor of luck. He caddied for Mickelson for 25 years and helped him win five of his six majors.

At the 2010 Masters, Phil Mickelson pulled off several spectacular shots, but his iconic six-iron at the par-five 13th is what stayed in Mackay’s memory.

“But back then there were patches of turf in the middle of this creek. And there was one, about the size of a manhole cover in the middle of the creek and this ball was sitting on it.”

That was his moment. The luck Mackay was talking about. Taking all the risk, Mickelson trusted his chip. Although he missed the putt for an eagle, he made a birdie and secured a two-point lead.

“It was that extra kick in the pants you needed to maybe go on and win.”

That moment led to Mickelson winning his third Masters and fourth Major title. The incident at Rae’s Creek made him believe that ‘this could be my week.” 

Mackay further added that the winners of the tournaments always have “crazy good breaks” that keep their momentum going. 

Golfers and Luck

“The more I practice, the luckier I get.” said the nine-time Major champion Gary Player.

Golfers have always had different opinions about the luck factor. Some believe that the weather, wind, and bounces are all a part of one’s own luck, while others believe that golf is pure skill.

Michael Agger, editor at The New York Times, wrote, “On average, tournament winners are the beneficiaries of 9.6 strokes of good luck.”

The "luckiest" performance recorded in the paper was turned in by Mark Calcavecchia at the 2001 Phoenix Open: 21.59 strokes. He was 40 at that time and in a poor run of form. However, came out on top.

Some have even argued whether luck itself is a measurable skill in golf.

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Written by

Avishek Sarkar

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi