Rory looking to find the key to Spieth’s success
THERE is only one person to blame for Rory McIlroy’s decision to dispense with caddie JP Fitzgerald – Jordan Spieth!
The only logical explanation I can think of is that Rory has been spooked by Spieth’s success.
Jordan is catching him up very quickly and he could complete his career Grand Slam first if he wins the US PGA at Quail Hollow.
Watching how he works with his caddie Michael Greller has obviously got Rory thinking.
There is a natural chemistry between Spieth and Greller that came out in their celebration when Spieth holed from a bunker to win at the Travelers in June.
It was also in evidence at Royal Birkdale, when they worked together so meticulously to solve Spieth’s problems at the 13th to recover to win the Claret Jug.
McIlroy is hugely ambitious and he doesn’t want to play second fiddle to anyone. He believes he is the best player in the game and is looking for a way to get back to the top.
By his standards, the year has been a write-off so far on the course. He may have been injured but there has also been so much disruption.
He’s changed his clubs, missed tournaments and played poorly at the US Open, Irish Open and Scottish Open to miss those cuts.
Then just when it looks like he has turned a corner with a good fourthplace finish at Birkdale, he gets rid of his caddie.
What makes it all the more surprising is the timing. Rory was quick to praise JP at The Open for turning his tournament round when he was five-over-par after six holes. But a week later he’s on the lookout for a new bagman!
JP has been criticised by some for giving Rory the wrong club when he had a double-bogey at the 10th in the third round of The Open. That is extremely unfair.
Rory is an experienced player and will have known what club he needed. He hit a poor shot into the bunker and a poor one out of the sand. That is his own fault.
I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to have close friend Harry Diamond as a long-term option.
Being a caddie is much more difficult than people think, and I wouldn’t want a long-standing friendship to be put at risk.
I’ve always believed that the player and the caddie should operate a strict business partnership and go their separate ways, once work is done.
Make no mistake, Rory and his entourage will be using this week at the PGA to sound out potential longterm successors to JP.
Fitzgerald has been Rory’s only caddie as a pro, so he is facing one of the most-important decisions he’s ever had in his career.
But he’s a dangerous man to write off. I remember when he split up with then fiancee Caroline Wozniacki in 2014.
He promptly won at Wentworth in the same week, and followed it up by winning The Open and the US PGA in the same summer.
Rory’s golfing story has been a rollercoaster from the start. Would it be so much of a surprise if he was holding the trophy aloft next Sunday night?