• US PGA Championship

Struggling McIlroy defends caddie over strained wrist

ESPN staff
August 13, 2011
Rory McIlroy is taking responsibility for the stroke that damaged his wrist at the US PGA Championship © Getty Images
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Rory McIlroy has hit back at critics of his caddie JP Fitzgerald, after it was suggested that the youngster needed better guidance prior to the shot that potentially could have damaged the rest of McIlroy's career.

McIlroy strained a wrist tendon during his opening round at the US PGA Championship, after he opted for risk over safety, jarring his club into a tree root that was a clear-and-present danger.

He now finds himself eight shots off the pace, sporting a bandaged wrist that could have suffered even greater damage from the incident. It has been claimed caddie Fitzgerald should have advised the 22-year-old not to put his career at risk, but McIlroy strongly disagrees.

"He's my caddie, not my father," McIlroy replied. "Hindsight is a great thing, but looking back it was a mistake in judgement. I thought I would be able to get away with it.

"I feel as if I can make birdies out there. If I don't think I could contend I probably wouldn't be playing. And if it wasn't a major I probably would have stopped yesterday."

The US Open champion carded a 73 on Friday, but he refused to blame the damaged wrist. Instead, it was his putting that bore the brunt of his criticism.

"Even with a broken wrist I should be putting better than this," he said. "Yesterday there were a couple of points where I thought it might have been better to walk in, but I wanted to play through and I felt like I'm hitting the ball okay.

"When I woke up this morning it was stiff, but it wasn't as painful."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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