It’s been almost a month since the U.S. Open, but the disappointing finish for Rory McIlroy is still fresh on the minds of plenty of people in the golf world.

Amongst the people analyzing Rory’s performance on that Sunday at Pinehurst is golf analyst Smylie Kaufman. While appearing on Golf’s Subpar podcast, the former pro said he believes McIlroy’s caddie, Harry Diamond, should have done more to help Rory.

“I felt like (caddie) Harry Diamond really should have stepped in on the 15th hole.”

“He did not have the right club in his hands. And I felt like Rory could have taken control of the championship on 15 if he just hits it in the middle of the green. And he hit a good shot. But it just was the wrong club.

“And never, never was a 7-iron for Rory. Especially with a right flag. If the wind was down off the right, it’s not exactly a flag and a wind condition and the heat to be able to land it in a hula hoop, where you got to hit this kind of soft, spinny, fade 7-iron. It was an 8-iron all day, hit it in the middle of the green.”

Diamond’s place as McIlroy’s caddie has been called into question for almost a decade now, but many argue that Rory isn’t looking for a caddie to give an enormous amount of advice anyway.

“I don’t really ever see Harry stepping in a ton. Rory always, if he has a question, he’ll ask, but for the most part, Rory kind of goes and does his thing and he’s got a lot of feel,” Kaufman added. “In my head, as a player, when you execute a shot exactly how you’re supposed to and it ends up in a terrible spot, you have to look at, all right, what happened here. Because that’s what happened at the 15th hole.”

McIlroy would on to bogey holes 15, 16 and 18 and missed two putts under five feet on the latter bogeys. He would lose by one shot to Bryson DeChambeau, who made a magnificent up and down from the fairway bunker on the 18th hole to seal his 2nd U.S. Open victory.

Rory has shown no desire to move on from Diamond at any point and at the moment it doesn’t seem to be under consideration from the Northern Irishman.

The four-time major champion will tee it up at this week’s Scottish Open for the first time since his U.S. Open defeat.

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Over the weekend, a handful of LIV golfers found themselves in contention at the International Series Morocco.

Amongst those players was the Iron Heads’ Scott Vincent. Incredibly, the Zimbabwean played well despite almost missing his tee time after the airline misplaced his clubs.

Vincent’s tee time was 12:30 and he arrived at 12:34, which led to him narrowly escaping a disqualification. He did, however, receive a two-stroke penalty for being late. He then had to use a set of borrowed clubs for his first round of the important event.

Despite the penalty and the unfamiliar clubs, the 32-year-old was able to fire a 5-under 68, which left him just two shots off of the first-round lead.

After the round, Vincent spoke about his clubs and how he was able to adapt to the unique situation.

“A lot of people had clubs, bits and pieces, but obviously it is hard to make up a full set when you do not have anything, so we have a bit of a mixed bag here.

“I have talked a lot to myself about adapting, no matter what, whatever the situation might be. And so just being able to go out there with none of my stuff, even golf shoes, I am taking in the moment, and we will just take it as it comes.”

Vincent ended up finishing 13th for the week after posting rounds of 68-71-74-71.

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This week, Greg Norman appeared on the Bloomberg Latitude Series and once again lashed out at LIV Golf critics.

“I compliment the boys who came over, the first movers, They came on with massive amounts of headwind,” Norman said while speaking with the host, Haslinda Amin.

“The vitriol and hatred was just disgusting, to be quite honest with you, considering what these guys have done for the game of golf, how they have carried the game of golf, and the institutions they represented.

“It was disgusting.”

The PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian Private Investment Fund are still working on a deal, but there is no imminent end in sight. LIV officials, including Norman, have maintained that LIV will continue to exist as its own entity regardless of what happens with the negotiations.

“We’re in our infancy for growth. Take venues, for example. We started out a couple of years ago doing nine and five – nine in the US and nine international – and now that’s flipped.”

“The global scene has opened its arms to us in a significant way.”

“Ultimately, we’ll end up taking the game on a global basis.”

LIV’s next event will be in Spain at Real Club Valderrama July 12-14.

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