"If McIlroy And Diamond Split, Another Pro Would Pick Him Up"

Former PGA Tour caddie and ESPN senior golf analyst Michael Collins has praised McIlroy's bagman Harry Diamond

"If McIlroy And Diamond Split, Another Pro Would Pick Him Up"

Rory McIlroy’s caddie has been criticised in the wake of the former World No.1’s winless stretch.

Rory McIlroy hasn’t won since the 2019 WGC-HSBC Champions and he’s now slipped outside the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time since March 2018.

This has caused a number of people to point the finger at his caddie, Harry Diamond.

The controversy surrounds the fact that Diamond is McIlroy’s best friend and had no previous top-level caddying experience when he picked up the four-time Major winner’s bag at the end of 2017.

Critics suggest McIlroy would fare better with a more experienced man by his side.

But ESPN senior golf analyst and former PGA Tour caddie Michael Collins has spoken up for Harry Diamond.

“Harry doesn’t get enough credit,” he said on the Filthy Lipout golf podcast.

Related: McIlroy adds Pete Cowen as new coach

“Harry and Rory together remind me a lot of DJ (Dustin Johnson) and AJ (his caddie and brother Austin Johnson), except Harry was, I think, a better golfer than AJ was to start with.

"It’s one of those things with the two of them together on the bag, Harry knows Rory better than anybody else.

“It’s also like, no matter how good friends you are with someone, when you walk inside those ropes it’s boss/caddie.

"And when we go outside the ropes, no matter what happened inside the ropes, work is there, and this is friendship.”

Related: McIlroy: Diamond one of the best caddies on tour

He finished by saying: “Harry has become a really good caddie. Here’s an easy one, if you want to know how good a caddie Harry I think is, if Rory and Harry split another pro would pick Harry up on the bag.

"That’s how good he is. I don’t know if that’s the case for AJ yet, but maybe. I know Harry would get a job. If he wanted to stay caddying, he could, because he’s that good.”

Collins knows what he’s talking about having caddied on the PGA Tour for 10 years and now working closely with the players and caddies in his role at ESPN.

He also spoke about a range of other topics on the Filthy Lipout podcast, including some incredible stories and insights about Tiger Woods, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Bryson Dechambeau and many more.

Listen to the full Filthy Lipout episode:

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