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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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
GolfWRX is on site in the Lone Star State this week for the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
General galleries from the putting green and range, WITBs — including Thorbjorn Olesen and Zac Blair — and several pull-out albums await.
As always, we’ll continue to update as more photos flow in. Check out links to all our photos from Houston below.
General Albums
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Monday #1
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Monday #2
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #2
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Thorbjorn Olesen – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Ben Silverman – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Jesse Droemer – SoTX PGA Section POY – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- David Lipsky – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Martin Trainer – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Zac Blair – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Jacob Bridgeman – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Trace Crowe – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Daniel Berger – WITB(very mini) – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Chesson Hadley – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Callum McNeill – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Rhein Gibson – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Patrick Fishburn – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Peter Malnati – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Raul Pereda – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
Pullout Albums
- Tom Hoge’s custom Cameron – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Piretti putters – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Ping putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Kevin Dougherty’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Bettinardi putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Erik Barnes testing an all-black Axis1 putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Tony Finau’s new driver shaft – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Players Championship
On the heels of Scottie Scheffler’s dominant victory at Bay Hill, the PGA Tour heads a little farther north in Florida to TPC Sawgrass this week for The Players Championship. And of course, GolfWRX is on site to get a look at what the players are playing.
We’ve already spotted a new Titleist mini driver this week, and there’s plenty more.
Check out our photos below!
Pullout Albums
- New Titleist 2 wood – 2024 The Players Championship
- Cam Young testing Titleist’s new 2-wood – 2024 THE PLAYERS Championship
- Hole Nos. 17 and 18 – 2024 THE PLAYERS Championship
- Toulon Small Batch Texas putter – 2024 The Players Championship
- Swag Golf custom headcovers – 2024 The Players Championship
- New Ping PLD staff bags – 2024 The Players Championship
- SuperStroke St. Patrick’s Day putter grip – 2024 The Players Championship
- Taylor Montgomery using PuttView X training goggles – 2024 The Players Championship
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
GolfWRX is on the ground in Orlando ahead of the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge.
We’re assembling our usual collection of WITB photos, general galleries, and of course, gear inspired by the King himself.
We’ll continue to add to the photos below as more flow in from Florida.
General Albums
- 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational – Monday #1
- 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational – Monday #2
- 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational – Monday #3
- 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational – Tuesday #2
- 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational – Tuesday #1 (thanks, bvmagic!)
- 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational – Tuesday #3 (bvmagic)
- 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational – Tuesday #2 (bvmagic)
WITB Albums
- Matt (LFG) Every – WITB – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- Sahith Theegala – WITB – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- Scottie Scheffler – WITB – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- Luke List – WITB – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- Adam Schenk – WITB – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- Taylor Moore – WITB – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- David Ford – WITB – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- Patrick Cantlay – WITB – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
Pullout Albums
- New Cameron putters (and new “LD” grip) – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- New Bettinardi MB & CB irons – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- Custom Bettinardi API putter cover – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- Custom Swag API covers – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- New Golf Pride Reverse Taper grips – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- New PXG putters – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- Scottie Scheffler putter change – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- Sepp Straka – shaft change to new Ventus blue – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- Rickie Fowler’s new Cobra Darkspeed X driver and Denali shaft (and Radspeed 3-wood) – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
- Justin Rose testing Srixon Z Forged II irons – 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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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.