“So what’s the glory in living?
Doesn’t anybody stay together anymore?”
— Michael Martin Murphey
Jason Day and Colin Swatton were a combination like no other on the PGA Tour.
Day basically owes all he is today to Swatton.
Day knows that.
“He’s taken me from a kid getting in fights at home and getting drunk at age 12 and not heading in the right direction to a major champion and there’s not many coaches that can say that in many sports.”
So said Day about the man in his life who has been father, coach, advisor then caddie for the man who climbed to No. 1 in the world a few years back.
Today, Swatton and Day are just another former player-caddie combo.
“The chemistry between me and Col (Swatton) just slowly changed over time,” was how Day described the split.
Jim “Bones” Mackay, who spent 25 years on Phil Mickelson’s bag, was on the grounds at Conway Farms Thursday, enjoying his new career as an on-the-turf analyst for The Golf Channel.
“That shocked everybody out here,” Bones said of the Swatton-Day news. “A very interesting time out here,” Bones continued.
“Five years is a good run, 10 years is an eternity,” was how Mackay judged player-caddie relationships. Guess that means Bones spent two lifetimes with Phil.
The fact of golf as we know it theses days is that so many of these top-ranked players are more than golfers. A lot of them become divas.
The growing trend is that caddies, like NFL coaches, are hired to eventually be fired.
The good news is that these caddies are also making a ton of money on today’s tour compared to the PGA Tour of the 70s, 80s and 90s.
During his career with Mickelson, Mackay averaged well over $500,000 a year in earnings and probably had years bigger than that. His net worth is estimated to be north of $5 million.
Dustin Johnson is keeping the money in the family with his brother on the bag.
The most high-profile duo these days is the Jordan Spieth-Michael Greller team. That duo looks destined to last a while. Spieth constantly credits Greller for his help and counsel.
Otherwise, caddies are expendable, especially when guys players start underperforming.
Rory McIlroy gave J.P. Fitzgerald his walking papers earlier this season and put a buddy on the bag. Hasn’t helped. McIlroy still looks like he can’t break an egg compared to the rest of the guys ahead of him in the current world rankings.
“It’s cyclical,” Mackay said of players and caddies.
He’s right, there are times when there’s no turnover then you get seasons like this when some well-known pairs have broken up.
With Day, the overall relationship survives.
Swatton remains his swing coach, father-figure and confidant.
And the door remains open. Swatton might be back at some future point.
It’s all part of the ongoing behind-the-scenes action on the PGA Tour.
And while we’re at it — whatever happened to Joe LaCava?
Now that’s a story for another day.
