After coming down from the emotional high of winning his first Masters title and first Major Championship in almost 11 years, Rory McIlroy had seemingly returned to his normal, jovial self in the post-tournament winner’s press conference.
And he almost made it through without getting a lump in his throat. Almost.
And it was a question from one of Ireland’s own that tipped the scales, as Golfweek’s Eamonn Lynch turned the attention to McIlroy’s caddie, Harry Diamond, who he’d grown up with and who’d served as best man when McIlroy wed Erica Stoll.
“Eamonn,” Rory jokingly admonished as the words that had been free flowing suddenly became hard to find.
“Yeah, I’ve known Harry since I was seven years old. I met him on the putting green at Holywood Golf Club. We’ve had so many good times together. He’s been like a big brother to me the whole way through my life (tearing up).
“To be able to share this with him after all the close calls that we’ve had, all the crap that he’s had to take from people that don’t know anything about the game, yeah, this one is just as much his as it is mine.
“He’s a massive part of what I do, and I couldn’t think of anyone better to share it with than him.”
Diamond is a more than accomplished golfer himself, following in McIlroy’s own footsteps in winning the West of Ireland Championship at County Sligo Golf Club in 2012, and only stepped in to take up Rory’s bag after his split from J.P. Fitzgerald in 2017.
It’s as predictable as it’s been common however, that Rory’s on-course successes have seen Diamond’s contribution dismissed without so much as a mention on social media, but whenever he’s come out on the wrong side of a result the rush to heap blame on Diamond is swift and stern.
But while Diamond’s ‘quiet man’ public persona might be cause for others to claim that he’s not vocal enough or a strong enough presence to carry the weight of McIlroy’s bag and the expectations heaped on McIlroy himself, Rory divulged that a short word from Diamond in the immediate aftermath of the missed chance on 18 in regulation played a big factor in him being able to pull himself together and take care of business in the playoff.
“He said to me, ‘Well, pal, we would have taken this on Monday morning,’” McIlroy recounted later. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, absolutely we would have.’ That was an easy reset. He basically said to me, look, you would have given your right arm to be in a playoff at the start of the week. So that reframed it a little bit for me.”
Asked what his plans to celebrate were, he was non-committal, only sure of the fact that he’d be staying in Augusta on Sunday night and would try to get back home to see his parents.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I’ll stay here tonight. I’ll probably head home to Florida tomorrow. I’d really love to see my mum and dad. They are back in Northern Ireland. So maybe a trip back home at some point next week.”
Since Diamond lives in Northern Ireland, there’s a good chance that the two old friends will meet in private to truly celebrate their accomplishment.
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