McIlroy turns to his best man
Rory McIlroy has turned to his best friend to undertake emergency caddie duties for the final major of the year after the shock dismissal of JP Fitzgerald.
McIlroy is playing in this week’s WGC Bridgestone Invitational in Akron where Harry Diamond will take his bag and he will also be on the world No 4’s shoulder at next week’s US PGA Championship.
Quail Hollow will be McIlroy’s last chance to win a major in 2017 and so avoid a third successive campaign without a major title.
Even though there have long been calls for him to split with Fitzgerald - indeed, ever since his infamous Masters meltdown in 2011 - few expected it to occur now.
The four-time major winner tied for fourth at the Open and during the Royal Birkdale event was effusive in his praise of the bag man, with whom he worked for almost a decade and won four major titles and 18 other tournaments. McIlroy revealed that it was his fellow Irishman who snapped him out of his first round mire, telling him: ‘‘You’re Rory McIlroy - what the f... are you doing?’’
‘‘JP did a great job,’’ McIlroy said after recovering from five over after six to record a one-over round. ‘‘He kept me positive out there and that was very much appreciated.’’
Two days later, McIlroy’s charge for a second Claret Jug was derailed when he took a double bogey on the 10th, courtesy of the wrong club selection off the tee. Again, the spotlight picked out Fitzgerald.
In caddie circles, the development was not greeted with too much surprise. And do not expect an overload of sympathy, not just because Fitzgerald is estimated to have earned more than £8 million (NZ$14.07m) in his employment with McIlroy.
‘‘It was coming,’’ one caddie told The Daily Telegraph. Fitzgerald’s meticulousness has been called into question by his peers, some of whom believe the mistake at Birkdale was merely the latest error. Within the game, McIlroy has long been urged to employ a new caddie, but the famously strong-willed Northern Irishman remained fiercely loyal to Fitzgerald, who previously worked for Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley.
When Jay Townsend, a former pro who is an analyst for various media outlets, including the BBC, criticised McIlroy’s course management and pointed the finger at Fitzgerald, the golfer hit back.
But, at last, the need to freshen up, and, of course, emulate Jordan Spieth’s brilliant strategy skills, which were instrumental in him winning his third major at Birkdale, look to have persuaded McIlroy that this was the moment for a change.
Yet the timing is curious to say the least and suggests that there had been no planning in this parting of the ways. Apart from the few months at the start of his professional career, McIlroy has known only Fitzgerald in his corner.
The 28-year-old’s managers refused to comment on the issue, saying nothing more than he would answer questions on Wednesday at his pre-tournament press conference. That will be yet another colourful scenario in McIlroy’s ever-turbulent story.
Diamond has caddied for McIlroy before. When the then 16-year-old prodigy was invited to play in the Irish Open in 2005, Diamond was on his bag.