The 2024 Masters is just a week away and Justin Thomas dropped a bombshell. The 15-time PGA Tour winner announced to part ways with his caddie, Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay, and wrote on his social media, “… I’m going to be forever thankful for him joining me on the bag in 2021.” With just a few days left to the next tournament, the big question arises, who will caddie for Thomas? 

After an enviable stint with Patrick Cantlay, Matt Minister is once again in the headlines. Todd Lewis of Golf Channel reported that Minister might be the next man to stand by Thomas’ side when the two-time Major champion travels to Augusta National.

Minister has twenty years of caddying experience on both the Korn Ferry Tour and the PGA Tour. The veteran looper, once a collegiate player for the University of Ohio, was previously on the bag of Patrick Cantlay, Chris Kirk, Nick Price, Joe Durant, Chris Smith, and others. Not that his dream of becoming a pro was shattered, but he got more interested in looping after the serendipitous experience as a junior golfer.

Matt Minister got the chance to loop for a PGA Tour Pro as a junior golfer

Caddying for Andrew Magee got him interested in the job. It was a rather freak encounter. Minister, fondly called Preacher by his friends (you don’t have to guess why), was a junior golfer at the Brookside Country Club when four Titleist representatives came to his home club. As a junior golfer, they offered him the chance to loop for the four-time PGA Tour winner. “I thought it was the coolest thing ever,” Minister later recounted.

The veteran looper got his first full-time gig with Chris Smith, a long-time friend. And, only in his second tournament as a caddie, Smith was in a playoff. Although they lost, Minister’s eyes still glitter while recounting that. “The hook was massively in the mouth, and here I am,” said the veteran bagman.

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Has Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay Already Moved On After Justin Thomas Split? Aftermath of Their Shock Breakup Explored

The 2002 Buick Classic triumph with Smith was still his most cherished moment on the greens. After Smith, he has also been on the bag for Chris Kirk for a few years. Only a few days after that gig ended, the call from Cantlay came. 

The call from Cantlay couldn’t have come at a better time

Patrick Cantlay returned to the Tour in 2017 after a three-year hiatus. A fractured spine and the death of a best friend left the 32-year-old out of the map for a while. The only reason Minister remembered his name was because an amateur Cantlay fired 60 at the 2011 Travelers Championship. But when his agent rang him up ahead of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Minister didn’t hesitate. The veteran bagman had already booked his flight to Pebble Beach and the hotels as well, thinking he might have to accompany Kirk. 

Interestingly, Cantlay was surprised that Minister would take the job. It was after all, just for a week. And was more surprised when the looper agreed to caddy for him in the next few tournaments as well, because he finished T48 at the 2017 AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. 

But Minister explained that Cantlay’s gutsy play and how he tackled the pressure after a three-year hiatus, was enough for him to stay with the eight-time PGA Tour winner. So, they traveled to Tampa Bay next for the Valspar Championship, where Cantlay knocked off a runner-up finish. “My gut feeling was pretty good,” laughed Minister. 

Seven years later, he is sure to feel more vindicated. Matt Minister was on Cantlay’s bag in all of his eight victories in the PGA Tour. He was also at Whistling Straits when Team USA walked away with the Ryder Cup on the home soil. Eventually, they parted ways in 2023 when Cantlay hired Tiger Woods’s former caddie, Joe La Cava.

What does Matt Minister think of players firing their caddies?

Why do players fire caddies? Minister had an interesting take. It’s not that players solely lay the blame on the bagman. Sometimes, a different company or a different opinion works well for the pros. Sometimes, the immense pressure of the game takes a toll.

For him, it’s part of the job. Just like living away from family and friends is also sort of an ‘occupational hazard’. “I would say you haven’t really caddied on Tour if you haven’t been fired,” Minister quipped.  “The stress of golf right now is really extreme. I think that’s why you see some of these drastic changes.” As the summer comes, and the Major championship season kicks in, the pressure only gets more intense.

Moreover, traveling, coupled with intense scrutiny and the burden of expectations, weighs heavily on golfers. When the desired result isn’t achieved, caddies sort of become the fall guy. “I just think these guys kinda get burnt out, and there’s only one way to make themselves, you know, feel better or feel like they can get something different, and that’s to change the face of the guy standing next to ‘em the whole time.”

Well, just before the Masters, Minister seems to have landed himself a gig. Good for him, because Augusta National is his favorite course.

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