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McIlroy dismisses talk of caddie switch

Rory McIlroy isn't about to turn his back on caddie JP Fitzgerald © Getty Images

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Rory McIlroy has vowed to stand by his caddie JP Fitzgerald, amid suggestions the US Open champion's bag man failed him during his infamous Masters meltdown earlier in the year.

Holding a four-stroke lead heading into Sunday's finale at Augusta National in April, McIlroy suffered a final-round implosion to plummet down the leaderboard when victory was well within reach.

Fitzgerald came in for criticism for not reining in his man's natural aggressive instincts; a case in point being when McIlroy walked off the 10th with a triple-bogey seven. After crashing his tee shot into a tree, leaving him between a couple of cabins, McIlroy's course management was non-existent as he went for broke after chipping back onto the fairway - resulting in an approach that ended a long way left of the green. Things unravelled further when he found another tree coming back, before his nightmare finally ended to leave him scratching his head in disbelief as he headed for the 11th tee.

Further criticism of Fitzgerald followed at the US PGA Championship in August; McIlroy picked up a wrist injury on the opening day having struck a tree root with his club. His drive on the 375-yard par-four third ended up on a root in the trees but, rather than play out sideways, he chose to fully take the shot on. The club made a heavy contact with the root, causing McIlroy to drop his club in agony and, although he completed the tournament, that one moment prevented him from playing his way into contention.

Despite the lows, McIlroy has never contemplated letting his right-hand man go, regardless of the flak Fitzgerald took for his part in the player's demise.

"There was no point in me saying, 'JP didn't do a great job there, I'm going to get someone else'," he said in the Independent. "JP has been on my bag since the middle of 2008, when I was 200th in the world and he's helped bring me to where I am now [third].

"Here's a guy who has been with me for all five of my wins on Tour. He's been with me through some tough play-off losses. He's been with me through everything.

"I've a great relationship with JP. He's become one of my closest friends over the past two and a half years. It's a combination that works very well. I firmly believe if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Rather than sweep the disastrous round under the carpet, both men sat down after the Masters to discuss what went wrong. "We didn't communicate like we usually do with each other that Sunday," added McIlroy.

"Usually we chat to each other around the golf course but it was completely different on Sunday at Augusta. It was both of us feeling the pressure of it. You've got to understand, it was the first time he'd been in that situation as well. It was a learning process for both of us."

McIlroy bounced back from his Masters disappointment, winning his first major at Congressional Country Club by a staggering eight shots. And the Northern Irishman says the heartache suffered at the Masters was a big factor in him getting the job done at the US Open.

"I reached a crossroads that day," he said. "Had I won, I could have kept going the one way. Yet after what happened, I really had to take responsibility for myself and my game and do what I needed to do to improve as a player.

"It was a huge disappointment at the time but when I look back in 20 years, I'll probably see it as the most important day of my career."

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