Rory McIlroy has finally earned himself the green jacket, having just won The Masters at Augusta National.
McIlroy is already eyeing more major wins this season after his success in Georgia, where he beat Justin Rose in a playoff.
Jon Rahm has congratulated McIlroy on his triumph, which represents his fifth career major championship win.
Moreover, he has now completed the career grand slam, having previously won the PGA Championship twice, the US Open and The Open Championship.
McIlroy led Bryson DeChambeau by two shots heading into the final round of The Masters, but was forced into a playoff by Rose at the death.
Paul McGinley says Harry Diamond has never been the issue for Rory McIlroy
The Northern Irishman won the tournament with close friend and caddie Harry Diamond by his side, with Paul McGinley now sharing his verdict on that relationship.
“Harry is another person who has got unbelievable criticism over the years,” McGinley said on Beyond the Clubhouse.
“I have always defended Harry. I never think that he is the issue here. The reason is different players require different things from caddies.
“Some players like Darren Clarke, wanted to be micro-managed by a caddie. He loved to be told by Billy Foster what will I do here, what club do you think, what shot to do you think.
“And to a large extent Billy really closely managed Darren and gave him some great feedback in terms of what shot he saw and if Darren saw the same shot that kind of empowered Darren to go ahead and play it. That relationship was very successful.
“Then you go on to Rory McIlroy. He is more than anybody else in the game, he is his own game. You think, and this is much to be admired about him, you think about all the disappointments which have come his way.
“The coaches never got fired. The caddie certainly in the last 10 years since JP has not got fired, despite coming close.
“After all the things that happened in the last few years of letting opportunities slip a lot of players would have fired the caddie or someone around them to go at it again.
“But Rory is the kind of guy who thinks I am the guy who fires the arrows. Your job is to load me with the arrows and my job is to fire them.
“So he doesn’t need to be micro-managed by a caddie. He needs somebody on his shoulder that he knows more than anything is in his corner. I think that is what Harry brings.”
Paul McGinley defends Harry Diamond after what happened to Rory McIlroy at the 2024 US Open
McIlroy certainly came close to completing the career grand slam on a handful of occasions before his superb success on Sunday.
He finished second as Scottie Scheffler clinched the green jacket in 2022, with the same finish posted at the 2024 US Open.
Golf fans told McIlroy to sack Diamond after that near miss at Pinehurst, where a final round collapse saw Bryson DeChambeau take the title.
Referencing that tournament, McGinley continued: “Also if you look at Rory’s mistakes over the years, you can’t put them down to bad clubs, to bad decisions off the tee.
“Even though there was criticism that he should have hit three wood off the tee box at Pinehurst at 18, I don’t think so.
“I think something like 90% of players playing that hole hit driver and Rory is probably the best driver of the golf ball in the game and he was out to win the tournament at that time.
“It’s easy in hindsight to look back and say if he had played for par and hit iron off the tee or three wood that would have been safe but I’m not so sure.
“I don’t think that the misses that Rory has had in these major championships have been down to caddie mistakes, they have been down to hitting the wrong shots, or not putting well enough in St. Andrews more than anything else.”
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