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.
With the PGA Tour across the border in Canada this week, GolfWRX Tour Photographer Greg Moore stayed stateside and headed to the OccuNet Classic presented by Amarillo National Bank in Amarillo, Texas.
It’s always interesting to see what the guys are playing on the KFT, and this week certainly hasn’t disappointed so far, with some incredible wedge stamping on display.
Check out links to all our albums below.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Ryan Palmer – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
- Mahanth Chirravuri – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
- Josh Creel – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
- Phichaksn Maichon – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
- Brandon Berry – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
- Ryan Burnett – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
- James Song – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
- Andrew McLauchlan – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
- Ian Gilligan – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
- Alvaro Ortiz – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
- Russell Knox – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
- Ian Holt – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
- Mitchell Meissner – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
- Travis Trace – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
- Bryce Lewis – WITB – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
Pullout Albums
Luke Potter’s custom Cameron putter – 2026 OccuNet Classic (KFT)
GolfWRX Tour Photographer made the trip from the Memorial Tournament across the country to the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera. Check out links to all the photos below!
General Albums
- 2026 US Women’s Open – Wednesday #1
- 2026 US Women’s Open – Wednesday #2
- 2026 US Women’s Open – Wednesday #3
- 2026 US Women’s Open – Wednesday #4
- 2026 US Women’s Open – Wednesday #5
WITB Albums
- Chloe Kovelesky – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open
Asterisk Talley – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open - Sarah Hammett – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open
- Rio Takeda – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open
- Hannah Green – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open
- Amy Yang – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open
- Auston Kim – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open
- Paula Francisco – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open
- Athena Singh – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open
- Brianna Do – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open
- Meja Ortengren – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Opens
- A Furue – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open
- Katelyn Kong – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open
- Natalia Guseva – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open
- Cass Alexander – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open
- Johanna Sjursen – WITB – 2026 US Women’s Open
Pullout Albums
- Scotty Cameron putter covers – 2026 US Women’s Open
- TaylorMade’s US Women’s Open staff bag & covers – 2026 US Women’s Open
GolfWRX is on site this week at the Memorial Tournament, with both Alistair Cameron and Tour Photographer Greg Moore on the ground in Dublin, Ohio, where a strong field is assembled to pay homage to the Golden Bear.
In addition to WITB galleries, we’ve already been treated to an in-hand look at Tommy Fleetwood’s new TaylorMade Spider putters.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2026 The Memorial – Monday #1
- 2026 The Memorial – Tuesday #1
- 2026 The Memorial – Tuesday #2
- 2026 The Memorial – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Jason Day – WITB – 2026 The Memorial
- Chris Gotterup – WITB – 2026 The Memorial
- SungJae Im – WITB – 2026 The Memorial
- Alex Noren – WITB – 2026 The Memorial
- Jacob Bridgeman – WITB – 2026 The Memorial
- Lucas Glover – WITB – 2026 The Memorial
- Bud Cauley – WITB – 2026 The Memorial
- Alex Smalley – WITB – 2026 The Memorial
Pullout Albums
- Jason Day’s 1off Payntr golf shoes – 2026 The Memorial
- JT Poston’s TaylorMade Spider – 2026 The Memorial
- Cameron putter – 2026 The Memorial
- Tommy Fleetwood’s TM Spider putters – 2026 The Memorial
- New Mitsubishi Chemical 1K Pro Orange shaft – 2026 The Memorial
- Bettinardi putter – 2026 The Memorial
- Min Woo Lee’s Callaway Apex 18* UT iron – 2026 The Memorial
- Wyndham Clark’s putter – 2026 The Memorial
- Lucas Glover putters – 2026 The Memorial
- Nicolai Hojgaard’s new Callaway 4 iron – 2026 The Memorial
- Adam Scott’s L.A.B. Golf putter – 2026 The Memorial
- Scotty Cameron Xperimental Prototype 11+ putter – 2026 The Memorial
- JJ Spaun’s updated/newest L.A.B. Golf putter – 2026 The Memorial
Justin Rose WITB 2026 (April): Full WITB breakdown with new McLaren irons
What’s the story behind Webb Simpson’s custom-stamped irons?
Memorial Tournament Tour Report: Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young switch up drivers, and more
Cadillac Championship Tour Report: Spieth’s sizable changes, McLaren Golf launches, and more
Russell Henley’s winning WITB: 2026 Charles Schwab Challenge
Kristoffer Reitan’s winning WITB: 2026 Truist Championship
J.T. Poston’s winning WITB: 2026 Memorial Tournament
Best irons 2026: Best irons overall, most forgiving irons, and more
Aaron Rai’s winning WITB: 2026 PGA Championship
Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2026 Cadillac Championship
Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament. Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura...
Hannah Green WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Titleist GTS3 (10 degrees, D4 SureFit setting) Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana RB 53 S 3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees,...
Asterisk Talley WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 S 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (16.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue...
Brianna Do WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (9 degrees) Shaft: KBS PGW 3-wood: Callaway Elyte Titanium (15 degrees) Shaft: KBS PGW 5-wood:...
-
Equipment6 days agoMemorial Tournament Tour Report: Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young switch up drivers, and more
-
News1 week agoRussell Henley’s winning WITB: 2026 Charles Schwab Challenge
-
Whats in the Bag3 days agoJ.T. Poston’s winning WITB: 2026 Memorial Tournament
-
Equipment3 days agoBest irons 2026: Best irons overall, most forgiving irons, and more
-
Equipment1 week agoDetails on Jason Day’s latest prototype Avoda iron setup
-
Equipment3 weeks agoCJ Cup Byron Nelson Tour Report: Koepka and Kim’s newest putters finally get hot
-
News2 weeks agoCharles Schwab Challenge Tour Report: MacIntyre, Åberg and Spaun all switch putters, TaylorMade launches new Spider
-
Equipment2 weeks agoDetails on J.J. Spaun’s surprise putter switch
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.