Will Phil Mickelson’s caddie get to use his veto power at the Masters?

Phil Mickelson is the master of the where-no-man-has-gone-before golf shot (pick any of a number of ridiculous flops), so it’s not surprising that his swashbuckling style sometimes causes agita for the guy who hands him his sticks.

During one rather heated conversation on the course when caddie Jim Mackay voiced his opposition to a particularly pugnacious approach, Mickelson threw his sidekick a bone.

“I’ll tell you what,” Mickelson told Mackay, “I’ll give you one veto a year, no matter what the situation is, where we are -- 18th hole at Augusta, first hole at New Orleans -- you can use this veto. I will walk back to the bag and I will go with whatever you happen to say.”

It sounded good to Bones, who sought use his veto power a dozen years or so ago in a non-major after Mickelson hooked his ball into “a really hairy lie” and commenced to lay out his tactic.

“From 160 yards he was going to skip the ball three times across the lake, it was going to hit the bank, and hop up on the green,” recalled Mackay, who uttered “a few words that can’t be repeated here” before he remembered the veto. “I couldn’t get it out of my pocket fast enough.”

That elicited a tirade from Mickelson, who could not believe his “some kind of idiot” caddie would waste his one-off opportunity on a meaningless event in which he was stuck in 38th place. But Mackay was adamant, fortunately Phil made par and “we rocketed into 27th.”

It wasn’t until 2002 that Mackay learned his veto ability stopped at the US border. Playing Muirfield, where the two would capture their sole Open Championship title some 11 years later, Mickelson drove into a steep fairway bunker and had 188 yards to the pin.

When Phil articulated his intention to drop to his knees and hit a 6-iron to the green, Mackay went as ballistic as a caddie can inside the ropes. He “whipped out” his veto, which Mickelson immediately vetoed.

Reasoning that he had not used his one vote per year yet, Mickelson replied it was a “domestic-only” privilege. The two proceeded to have an intense, back-and-forth argument about domestic vs. foreign, which, Mackay noted, entertained the spectators who happened to be within hearing distance.

Finally, not wishing to hold up play any longer, Mackay gave in to the self-styled “commissioner of the veto.”

Mickelson insisted he was right, got down on his knees and knocked his ball “100 yards the wrong way … three fairways over and made like a 20-footer for a double.”

The good news for fans, who enjoy listening in during the duo’s many animated discussions, is that Mackay still has this year’s veto tucked inside his caddie’s bib.

“Here we are, it’s 2016, and I haven’t used it yet,” he said. “So we’ll see what happens.”

Fingers crossed for a Bones injunction on Masters Sunday.

Mackay, by the way, believes his employer has at least one more Masters victory in him. Mickelson, who sports a tour-leading scoring average and is playing better golf than he has in years, may not outlast the Jason Days, Jordan Spieths or Rory McIlroys of the world this time around, but Bones is certain Phil will add a fourth green jacket to his wardrobe.

“Phil’s not done winning this event. I don’t know if it will be this week but at some point before Phil’s finished he will win this event again,” Mackay said of his not-yet-over-the-hill boss. “Phil considers 45 to be just a number and he refuses to believe he can’t beat these guys on a regular basis and he’s out to prove it.”