Rory McIlroy caddie: Harry Diamond’s remarkable rise, contentious split and huge payday

Harry Diamond was there with Rory McIlroy when he secured his long-awaited victory at the Masters – and the caddie goes a long way back with the Northern Irishman

Rory McIlroy was supported by a whole host of people during his remarkable weekend at Augusta National, but one person was more influential than anyone else to his Masters victory. A golfer’s relationship with his caddie is a close one, yet McIlroy had more reasons than most to thank him after he sunk the winning putt to see off Justin Rose.

Although Harry Diamond has been by McIlroy’s side on the golf course since being hired in 2017, the pair go much further back. The two met at Holywood Golf Club in Northern Ireland, where they were both prodigiously talented children with bright futures ahead of them.

While not at the level of McIlroy, who became just the sixth man in history to complete the career Grand Slam and the first European, Diamond is a quality player himself. Playing as an amateur, he won the 2012 West of Ireland tournament to qualify for the Irish Open.

Ultimately, he decided to take a step back from playing to support his close friend pursue his dreams on the golf course. And, after the momentous events in Georgia over the weekend, it has been an astute – and profitable – decision.

READ MORE: Rory McIlroy’s 10-word text message that helped inspire historic Masters winREAD MORE: Woman Rory McIlroy had emotional reunion with after Masters win identified

Huge payday

McIlroy’s win at the Masters was about him fulfilling his dream and completing the set, having previously won the US Open, The Open and two US PGA Championships. Speaking afterwards, the 35-year-old hailed his “dream come true”, and while it won’t have been his main thought, the financial boost was also significant.

Victory earned McIlroy a pay cheque of $4.2million (£3,191,756) and 10 per cent of that goes to his caddie. That means £319,175 for Diamond, who is, unsurprisingly, one of the wealthiest bag men on the PGA Tour thanks to McIlroy’s success, with a reported net worth of around £1.9m.

The two of them shared an emotional hug on the green after McIlroy sunk the winning putt and their connection was obvious when the Northern Irishman spoke to the media afterwards. “I’ve known Harry since I was seven years old,” an emotional McIlroy said.

“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.

“To be able to share this with him after all the close calls that we’ve had, all the c*** 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.”

A contentious split

While they’ve always been close friends, Diamond hasn’t always been McIlroy’s caddie. He was only appointed after McIlroy split with experienced caddie JP Fitzgerald after the 2017 Open Championship.

McIlroy and Fitzgerald had won 13 titles as a team and the decision to replace him with a friend wasn’t viewed too kindly – to put it mildly – by many ex-players and pundits. Diamond was the best man at McIlroy’s wedding in 2018 and, to many, it seemed like McIlroy was opting for a comfortable fit instead of choosing someone who might challenge him more often.

Tiger Woods’ former coach, Hank Haney, and commentator Smylie Kaufman were among those to voice their negative thoughts, which came after high-profile mistakes from McIlroy. The feeling was that Diamond wasn’t vocal enough and simply allowed his friend to take undue risks without much of a discussion on the course.

Such sniping has wound up McIlroy, who has been forced to hit back himself, with Diamond choosing to stay out of the spotlight by refusing to speak to the media. “Just because Harry is not as vocal or loud with his words as other caddies, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t say anything and that he doesn’t do anything,” McIlroy explained in July.

“They are never there to say Harry did such a great job when I win, but they are always there to criticize when we don’t win. He’s been with me every step of the way for the last seven years now. He gets his fair share of stick and it’s not warranted.”

Double standards

The Masters win will feel like vindication for McIlroy, who used his press conference to explain key interventions from Diamond over the weekend. More than anything, his friend keeps him calm on the course – and they now have 16 tournaments wins together.

Speaking about the moments between his missed putt on the 18th hole, before the play-off, he said: “After scoring, Harry and I were walking to the golf cart to bring us back to the 18th tee, and he said to me, ‘Well, pal, we would have taken this on Monday morning. I’m like, ‘Yeah, absolutely we would have.’ That was an easy reset.”

For 2019 Open winner Shane Lowry, the criticism has always been unwarranted and hypocritical. “He’s the greatest golfer of our generation and I don’t think he gets any leeway at all,” Lowry said in the build-up to the Masters.

“And some of the s*** Harry gets off the back of it, now that really does my head in. Dustin Johnson had his brother caddying for him for 10 years and nobody said anything; other players have had the same caddie for 15 years, but everything Rory does is scrutinised.

“To be honest, there is no caddie in the world that would be better for Rory than Harry Diamond. Harry is always there a day before Rory. He’s always walking the course and doing his work. And I see it, but these guys sitting there on their stupid podcasts don’t see it.”

Jason Day, who finished tied eighth, can also empathize with Diamond because he also hired a childhood friend, Luke Reardon, only a month after McIlroy hired Diamond.

“Harry is an incredible caddie,” Day said. “Harry is a tremendous caddie, and he works as hard as any caddie out there. I don’t understand how anyone could question his ability on the bag and, as a player on tour, I’ve never even thought about it. He’s just a great caddie.”