Rory McIlroy will have a new caddie at the 2017 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, marking the first time in some nine years that McIlroy won't have JP Fitzgerald on his bag for a big golf tournament.
McIlroy fired Fitzgerald sometime after finishing just shy of an epic comeback in the 2017 British Open Championship, during which the four-time major winner credited his caddie for helping him snap back into the tournament at Royal Birkdale early on. Fitzgerald, trying to shake McIlroy out of a malaise that had him looking on the wrong side of the cut, implored McIlroy to remember who he was (“You’re Rory McIIroy - what the f*** are you doing?”), which helped the Ulsterman rally.
It's unclear what motivated the firing or if McIlroy has a plan for a new permanent caddie anytime soon. However, scuttlebutt has always been that JP is not the best with yardages, leading McIlroy to often misclub and go long of targets, including during the British Open. Anonymous caddies and players have told other publications that a better caddie -- one who is more accurate and isn't as chummy with the boss -- would help McIlroy to more major titles.
However, for the 2017 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the 2017 PGA Championship, McIlroy will have best friend and wedding best man Harry Diamond on the bag, according to The Telegraph.
Diamond hasn't carried the bag for McIlroy before on the PGA Tour, but he has helped the McIlroy family as a looper during a European Tour event. In 2014, Diamond carried the bag for McIlroy's father, Gerry, in the Dunhill Links Championship, the European Tour equivalent of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA Tour.