Rory McIlroy won his second Players Championship on Monday with an impressive performance in the three-hole playoff against J.J. Spaun.
McIlroy temporarily silenced his doubters, particularly those who say he’s not clutch, as it was his opponent who faltered under the pressure, not him.
However, one former European Tour player thinks the Northern Irishman must not get comfortable after his victory at TPC Sawgrass.
Instead, he has suggested that McIlroy should make a significant change to his regime despite playing so well recently.
Rory McIlroy told to replace caddie after Players Championship victory
Nick O’Hern was a quality player on the European and PGA Tours in the 2000s, achieving his highest world ranking (16) in January 2007.
He made 20 major appearances and even finished in the top 10 at the 2006 US Open at Winged Foot, where Bryson DeChambeau won five years ago.
O’Hern now has a golf podcast and in his latest episode, he made the bold statement that McIlroy should change his caddie.
He explained that Matt Fitzpatrick’s split with Billy Foster presents the perfect opportunity for him to hire the latter to replace Harry Diamond.
“In those crucial, clutch moments, that’s when you need someone who has the experience, who has the nous for the game and the feel and can sense it.
“If we go back to the US Open last year when he lost to Bryson… I just watched the episode where Bryson and Rory were going at it in the US Open on Netflix.
“What it was about was the short missed putt on 16 and the short missed putt on 18. However, what they didn’t cover and for me the reason those things happened was the club selection on 15 on the par three was long. He makes bogey.
“He is probably thinking about that on the next green, he three-putts [when] he hasn’t missed a putt inside three feet in 500 attempts or whatever it was. Then what happened on the last, that was a good putt, but he shouldn’t have been in that position to begin with.
“Now, a great caddie there would have said: ‘Rory, you are not hitting this club. We are going to put you at the front of this green and you are going to have a long putt but it will be uphill and I’m backing you to two putts from there.’ You go long and you will be lucky to make bogey and that’s what happened.
“Billy Foster is the kind of guy who would say to Rory: ‘We are not doing this. We are going to do this right here.’ Now Harry at the moment, every time I’ve heard on the Full Swing, on the 18th tee for example, Rory said: ‘I am not really feeling three wood, I might just hit the driver on the 18th at Pinehurst.’ And Harry goes: ‘Well if that is what you like.’ It’s like what?”
Why Matt Fitzpatrick parted ways with Billy Foster
Foster has worked alongside Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood in the past and is widely regarded as an excellent caddie.
He helped Fitzpatrick win the 2022 US Open and climb to number six in the world rankings but his recent results have been disappointing, to say the least.
The Englishman only just finished outside the top 20 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, however, he missed the cut at the Phoenix Open and The Players.
With the Ryder Cup on the horizon, Fitzpatrick will be determined to find the form to make sure he’s on Luke Donald’s European team for Bethpage so perhaps something needed to change.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
