Tour News
Rory McIlroy explains decision to part ways with caddie J.P. Fitzgerald
A report was recently released that Rory McIlroy fired longtime friend and caddie J.P. Fitzgerald, who was on his bag for each of McIlroy’s four major championship victories. While McIlory doesn’t want to consider this a “firing,” and simply a change of paths, he did confirm the split and spoke candidly about the decision during a press conference ahead of the 2017 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
He admits to being “very hard on him” on the golf course, and that he “didn’t want to treat someone like that.”
“I still consider J.P. one of my best friends, one of my closest friends, 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 said. “I was getting very hard on him on the golf course and I didn’t want to treat someone that – I don’t want to treat anyone like that. But sometimes this game drives you to that, but I felt like it was the right thing to do, and I don’t think there was any good time to do it.”
McIlroy, now ranked No. 4 in the Official World Golf Rankings, has replaced Fitzgerald with his friend, Harry Diamond, for both this week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the 2017 PGA Championship.
During the press conference, McIlroy didn’t rule out going back to Fitzgerald in the future, but “needed to mix things up a bit.”
“There’s nothing to say that J.P. mightn’t work for me again at some point, but right now I just felt like I needed a little bit of a change,” McIlroy said. “I hate the term fired or sacked or axed, because that’s definitely not what it was. I just changed my path a little bit, but maybe in the future that path might come back to where it was. Right now I just needed to mix things up a little bit, and J.P. understood that and we’re still all good.”
McIlroy is still chasing his first major championship victory since the 2014 PGA Championship.
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News
Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.
From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.
Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.
General Albums
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Monday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Akshay Bhatia – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matthieu Pavon – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Keegan Bradley – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Webb Simpson – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Emiliano Grillo – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Taylor Pendrith – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Kevin Tway – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Pullout Albums
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rory McIlroy – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Eric Cole’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matt Kuchar’s custom Bettinardi – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Justin Thomas – driver change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler – putter change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s new custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Tommy Fleetwood testing a TaylorMade Spider Tour X (with custom neck) – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Cobra Darkspeed Volition driver – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
GolfWRX is on site this week in McKinney, Texas, at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson (FKA the AT&T Byron Nelson).
Last year at TPC Craig Ranch, Jason Day ended a five-year winless streak. J-Day is in the field again, as are Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, and Will Zalatoris.
We have our usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums for your perusal. As always, we’ll continue to add links to additional albums as they make their way to us from the Lone Star State.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Pierceson Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kris Kim – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- David Nyfjall – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Jarred Jetter – North Texas PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Richy Werenski – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Wesley Bryan – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Parker Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Peter Kuest – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Blaine Hale, Jr. – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kelly Kraft – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Rico Hoey – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Pullout Albums
- Adam Scott’s 2 new custom L.A.B. Golf putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Scotty Cameron putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Ben Griffin playing Maxfli golf ball
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans
GolfWRX is live on site this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the PGA Tour’s one-and-only two-man team event.
As usual, general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums — including some pretty spicy custom putters and headcovers — await your viewing.
Be sure to check back for more photos from the Big Easy, as we’ll continue to update this page with additional galleries throughout the week.
General Albums
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Monday #1
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Monday #2
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Alex Fitzpatrick – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Austin Cook – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Alejandro Tosti – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Davis Riley – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- MJ Daffue – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Nate Lashley – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- James Nicholas – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Kevin Streelman – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Rasmus Hojgaard – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Tom Whitney – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- SangMoon Bae – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Daniel Berger – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Rory McIlroy – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Russ Cochrane – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Aldrich Potgieter – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Steve Stricker WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Drew Brees WITB (Legendary New Orleans Saints QB) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Derek Carr (New Orleans Saints QB) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Thriston Lawrence WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
Pullout Albums
- MJ Daffue’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Cameron putters – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Swag covers ( a few custom for Nick Hardy) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Custom Bettinardi covers for Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Doug Ghim’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Patrick Cantlay spotted testing a Scotty Cameron blade putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
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Realist
Aug 7, 2017 at 11:42 am
Lot of hate by folks who have never made a business decision in their life. Rory has obligations (sponsors, fans, family, etc) and felt like he needed a new guy on the bag. I dont know why, but 90% of golf is mental, so I dont have to know why. Made sense to him, and its his future on the line. Time will tell if he made a good business move.
neil
Aug 7, 2017 at 11:30 am
harsh;Rory by all accounts is a very nice guy.
most top players would have fired him years ago,JP will have a nice package and will never need to work again
Rich Douglas
Aug 6, 2017 at 8:42 pm
“You’re such a good friend that I have to fire you!”
What a clown.
Jacked_Loft
Aug 5, 2017 at 5:54 am
Good for JP. After putting up with a player that has turned into a prissy DB maybe he can get a better bag. What an excuse from RM…protecting a friendship indeed.
Robert Parsons
Aug 4, 2017 at 7:27 pm
Take credit for the wins, blame the caddie for the mistakes…
I wouldn’t want to treat my friend like that either. So I’d own up to my mistakes on the course and move on.
Chris
Aug 4, 2017 at 11:17 am
“Don’t want to treat a friend like that” immediately hires a good friend for the job…
pooch
Aug 4, 2017 at 10:49 am
Looks like Rory is growing into being a not so nice person. Its not your caddy. He will treat his next caddy the same way. Blame yourself when you play poorly. I may be wrong but I see these young players blaming their caddies much more than before, Could be more coverage on course. The game’s bedrock is taking responsibility for your actions and outcomes. Gee If I play poorly I blame myself because I don’t have a caddy. Note to self: Hire a caddy asap.
EYIII
Aug 4, 2017 at 9:24 am
JP will find another bag no problem. Guy is a good looper. Been on the biggest stages, Ryder Cups etc…To be honest, it’s surprising how long some of these caddie/player combo’s last. You spend more time with your caddie than you do with your spouse/significant other. It’s just expected that things will get tense or spats will happen. Tough when it is a friend though.
Chris B
Aug 3, 2017 at 2:24 pm
Did I read somewhere that he missed clubbed him on one hole at the open. It sounds strange to me. He doesn’t seem to like anyone sharing the credit, I’m still convinced that’s why he got rid of Chubby Chandler.
Matt-78
Aug 3, 2017 at 12:55 pm
I agree with the above comments, that Rory’s statement is not consistent with him then putting his friend on the bag. He basically said he switched caddies because he is hard on caddies and doesn’t want to be hard on a friend. And then hires a good friend. I think he is simply being nice to his previous caddie. He doesn’t trust him anymore. Hence, why he was being hard on him. Rory just doesn’t want to throw him under the buss and hurt his chances of being picked up by another pro. That is my $0.02 and I could be completely wrong!
Brian
Aug 3, 2017 at 9:15 am
Getting harder and harder to root for this guy……
TexasSnowman
Aug 2, 2017 at 11:18 pm
The more I hear of/from Rory, the less I like.
Oldplayer
Aug 4, 2017 at 4:30 pm
Agree with you and the others that are feeling dislike for Rory. Sounds more and more like a selfish a-hole who won’t take responsibility for his bad behavior.