Rory Explains Why He Fired His Longtime Caddie

Breaking up is the hardest thing to do. On Wednesday, Rory McIlroy answered questions about his recent split with longtime looper J.P. Fitzgerald during his presser at the WGC-Bridgestone. The nine-year partnership ended with a phone call.

“It wasn’t an easy decision, but at the end of the day I felt like it was a change that I needed to make,” McIlroy said. “I got to the point where if I didn’t play a good shot or if I made a wrong decision, I was getting more frustrated at him than I was at myself. I would much rather be angry at myself for making a wrong decision than being angry at him, and that was really why.”

Over the course of their nine years together, they won 13 times on the PGA Tour, including four majors.

“I still consider J.P. one of my best friends, one of my closest friends,” McIlroy said. “But sometimes to preserve a personal relationship you might have to sacrifice a professional one, and that was sort of the decision that I came to in the end.”

McIlroy’s childhood friend, Harry Diamond will be on the bag this week at the WGC-Bridgestone, as well as next week at the PGA Championship.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen after these two weeks,” McIlroy said. “I’m going to have a week off between Quail Hollow and the first FedExCup playoff event in New York at Northern Trust, so potentially if something doesn’t work out, and Harry and I say, ‘OK, two weeks was enough but I need to find somebody else,’ I’ve got 10 days between the end of the PGA and the start of the Northern Trust to find someone.”

[Golf Channel]

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