While Rory McIlroy is now a grand slam winner and Masters champion, his best friend and caddie Harry Diamond still seems to be coming in for some harsh criticism from some.
Diamond – McIlroy’s best friend since around the age of seven – finally got to enjoy a major win with McIlroy and it was the big one they both wanted.
Diamond has come in for criticism over the years and was slammed after the US Open for not talking McIlroy out of his shots on 18.
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McIlroy has since defended Diamond staunchly and did so again after The Masters as he spoke with emotion about his best buddy.
Nevertheless, that hasn’t taken Diamond out of the firing line and now Johnson Wagner has had another dig at him.
Johnson Wagner slates Harry Diamond again despite Rory McIlroy’s Masters win
As Harry Diamond is now a Masters champion with Rory McIlroy, you’d imagine that any form of criticism would have dissipated.
But as usual, there’s a comment of criticism and this time, it’s golf analyst Johnson Wagner who has took his chance to have a bit of a dig at Diamond again.
“I think you and I both have been pretty unfair to Harry Diamond. Not unfair, let me rephrase that. We have been on the record, on camera and on podcasts, saying that we don’t think he is a very good caddie and Rory could have been at 10 or 12 majors right now if he hired Steve Williams when he hired JP,” Wagner said on the 5 Clubs podcast.
“I want to say, I am going to say that I am going to say Sunday was his best performance. Rory is paired with Bryson, they are not speaking, and he is definitely going to be talking. The only person he is going to be talking to on that golf course. So I think Harry was in that situation, he was great. But earlier in the week I was having this conversation with Fax [Brad Faxon] on camera and he shared a story about the Pinehurst US Open. He is talking about the intangibles and he didn’t like how Harry doesn’t get a lot of credit.
“So after Rory missed that putt on 16 at Pinehurst, what Harry Diamond said to Rory was if it were Monday you would take being take being tied for the lead at the US Open on the 17th tee on Sunday and Rory was like okay well done.
“I said where did he hit that next shot because he yanked it in the bunker and made a great up and down but would ultimately lose to Bryson. Then on Sunday Rory was asked about Harry specifically and what did Harry say to you after signing a scorecard going out for a playoff. And Harry Diamond had the same line. He said if it were Monday we’d take being in this position to go into playoff. It’s like he used the same line twice in the last two chances he had!”
Going into more detail about why he was annoyed with Diamond on Masters Sunday, Wagner then explained that the double bogey McIlroy made on 13.
“I had plenty of examples of why and how I think Harry could do a better job. I’m going to start on 15 on Thursday, when Rory chipped it in the water. There was one place where Rory could make an absolute mess. He could have made a 10 from that drop circle. He could have rinsed his fifth or hit in the bunker and rinsed the next one. He could have made a 10,” Wagner continued.
“In that situation he obviously didn’t know Patrick Cantlay had just made an eight. In that situation you hit the shot and it didn’t check, it’s like maybe how about I just drop the ball right here, putt it up there to 10 feet, maybe I make six or maybe I make seven. I wanted to tackle him! He said he thought he had to go there. That’s where a good caddie comes in.”
Billy Foster’s past comments on Harry Diamond still ringing true despite Masters glory
For Harry Diamond, being alongside your best pal and winning the biggest golf tournaments in the world is the stuff of dreams.
Diamond refused any interviews on Sunday, instead opting to allow McIlroy to enjoy the spotlight.
However, it’s little wonder he comes in for criticism himself and that is something that experienced caddie Billy Foster once explained was an issue for Diamond.
“There’s one thing I will say if I was caddying for Rory, and it’s he wouldn’t have finished second as many times as that. He’d have tied 18th with me caddying,” Foster said.
“Nah look, Harry (Diamond) is a good lad. He gets an unfair rap. The problem is, you see every shot Rory McIlroy hits. You don’t see Poulter, or Fitz or Ernie, you don’t see them do you?.”
“He’s a good player in his own right Harry and a nice kid and yeah he does get an unfair rap. And Rory’s there every week isn’t he? Unbelievable player. His time will come again.”
It seems so unfair that the caddies take the blame when things go wrong. Now, to hear a caddie still getting it even after a major win, just doesn’t seem to sit right.
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