A professional golfer has many pillars of support, from parents to coaches. However, none of them can influence their performance and career as profoundly as the person carrying the bag. Michael Thorbjornsen is also witnessing a surge in his career  and a lot of credit for that must go to his caddie.

The 24-year-old, who turned professional in 2024, has already made over $4 million in official earnings. Although he has not won any event on the PGA Tour yet, he has already made 10 top-10 finishes, including 1 in 2026 at the WM Phoenix Open, where he finished T3. And the trusted bagman helping shape the young professional’s career right now is JJ Jakovac.

Who is Michael Thorbjornsen’s caddie, JJ Jakovac?

Michael Thorbjornsen’s current caddie is JJ Jakovac. He is the veteran bagman best known for his successful stint with Collin Morikawa.

The PGA Tour caddie hails from Napa, California. He has a decorated background as both a college golfer and a looper for major champions. He himself played golf in college at California State University, Chico, from 2000 to 2004. In fact, he didn’t just play; he dominated NCAA Division II.

This domination included two individual national championships in 2002 and 2004. Besides that, he also earned three-time All-American honors. He also claimed the 2004 Jack Nicklaus Award as the top collegiate golfer across all U.S. divisions.

After college, Jakovac turned pro and tried his luck as a golfer. However, he never advanced through Q-school. Thus, he also had to switch to a construction job before taking up caddying around 2009.

JJ Jakovac started his caddying journey when rival Matt Bettencourt asked him to loop. Although he didn’t have any caddying experience before that, his deep golf knowledge made him a quick fit. Apart from Bettencourt, he also worked with Zack Miller, John Merrick, Pete Tomasulo, and Ryan Moore. With Moore, he worked for 5 years and helped him win the CIMB Classic in Malaysia back-to-back in 2013 and 2014.

After all these partnerships, his most promising work came with Collin Morikawa. He reached out to the American professional in 2019. The duo won six PGA Tour events, including the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 Open Championship. The other 4 were the 2019 Barracuda Championship, the 2020 Workday Charity Open, the 2021 WGC-Bridgestone, and the 2023 ZOZO Championship. They also competed together in two Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups.

The two parted ways in April 2025. He then joined Michael Thorbjornsen as a caddie.

Thorbjornsen, on the other hand, has also worked with Tiger Woods’ ex-caddie, Lance Bennett. Bennett guided him to his then‑best major finish, T25 at the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

Michael Thorbjornsen and JJ Jakovac’s partnership

After turning to Jakovac, the two have seen great results. Some of Thorbjornsen’s best finishes after joining hands with Jakovac include a T4 finish at the 2025 Rocket Classic and a solo 3rd at the 2025 Baycurrent Classic.

His 2026 campaign has also started on a great note. Of the 6 starts he has had so far, he made the cut in 4 of them. The PGA Tour pro missed the cut at the American Express 2026 and the Cognizant Classic 2026, while his best finish came as a T3 at the WM Phoenix Open 2026.

Now, he is even in contention to win at the Players Championship 2026. He has carded rounds of 74, 65, and 67 so far. At the end of Round 3, he stands 2nd on the leaderboard with a score of 10-under 206, just 3 strokes behind the leader, Ludvig Aberg.

As their partnership gains momentum, Michael Thorbjornsen and JJ Jakovac are emerging as a team capable of contending at the biggest events on the PGA Tour. Jakovac’s experience is now adding another strong layer to Thorbjornsen’s support system.