On Tuesday, Rory McIlroy faced the media for the first time since his heartbreaking U.S. Open loss last month.
Rory made some crucial mistakes over the past few holes at Pinehurst No. 2, including choosing to hit a seven iron on the 15th which most agree was too much club. Both Hank Haney, who is Tiger Woods’ former coach, and Smylie Kaufman, who’s a former pro turned Golf Channel analyst, have criticized Rory’s caddie, Harry Diamond for not stepping in.
On June 18, Haney posted the criticism to his X account.
“I will say this, if Steve Williams was Rory’s caddie I can promise you he would have never hit a perfect flighted 7 iron that rolled over the green on 15 into a terrible lie because he would have hit an 8 iron and sent it straight up in the air and held the green.”
“Wrong club, wrong shot, bad plan.”
While appearing on Golf’s Subpar podcast, Smylie Kaufman also said he believes 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.”
On Tuesday, McIlroy came to the defense of his caddie in his Scottish Open pre-tournament press conference.
“Just because Harry is not as vocal or loud with his words as other caddies, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t say anything and that he doesn’t do anything,” said the Northern Irishman.
“These guys that criticize when things don’t go my way, they never say anything good when things do go my way.
“Where were they when I won Dubai earlier year, or Quail Hollow, or the two FedEx Cups that I’ve won with Harry, or the two Ryder Cups, or whatever? They are never there to say Harry did such a great job when I win, but they are always there to criticize when we don’t win.
“At the end of the day, they are not there. They aren’t in the arena. They are not the ones hitting the shots and making the decisions.”
McIlroy added
“Someone said to me once, if you would never take advice from these people, you would never take their criticisms, either. I certainly wouldn’t go to Hank Haney for advice. I love Smylie, but I think I know what I’m doing, and so does Harry.”
McIlroy will tee it up at the Renaissance Club this week as the defending champion at the Scottish Open.
Your Reaction?- LIKE0
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
