I’ve been a caddie. I’ve had my ears burnt. I’ve had the stare.
Did I misread that putt? Was it my fault they’ve hit through the green? Have I got the line on this drive that’s landed in the centre of thick grass?
All of these things ran through my head at some point when carrying for the members of Royal St. George’s and occasionally in the Amateur Championship in my teenage years.
You’re probably worried that I’m about to compare myself to Harry Diamond, the longtime caddie of Rory McIlroy. You’re right to worry because that’s exactly what I’m doing.
I looped around the famous links in Southeast Kent for several years and while the stakes usually didn’t get higher than said member winning the weekly stableford, it niggled me when I got something wrong and I know it niggled them. They are paying me to carry the bag, but when they ask for your help, it’s no good if your help is rubbish.
Maybe if these competitions were delivered to millions across the world by Sky Sports or Golf Channel, I might have received some heavy criticism, which is what happened to Harry after McIlroy devastatingly lost the 2024 US Open to Bryson DeChambeau.
Public figures like coach Hank Haney and player-turned-broadcaster Smylie Kaufman took jabs at Harry after McIlroy made crucial bogeys on holes 15, 16 and 18 to lose the championship. I caddied at club level, but I strongly believe one concept is mirrored in the professional game: the player determines where the ball finishes
McIlroy hit a driver on the 18th hole in the final round at Pinehurst because that is the option he chose. A caddie, Harry or anyone, can only be so persuasive. McIlroy hit a 7-iron on the par-3 15th and went through the green, but this was his club choice.
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Harry Diamond is not to blame for McIlroy’s most brutal major miss
Haney said a figure like Steve Williams, who carried for Tiger Woods for 14 of his 15 major wins, wouldn’t have let McIlroy make the mistakes that he made. Williams might be one of the great caddies, but he is not a puppeteer. He worked for the best player to pick up a golf club.
Diamond is also not a puppeteer and if he were, I’m sure he’d have pulled the right strings to prevent his man from missing a two-foot putt on hole 16.
As a caddie, you have influence but zero power. You could give your player an excellent piece of advice, but then they don’t execute the shot. So where do we stand with that? What mistakes can be the caddie’s fault and what can’t? It is a fickle exercise when landing these digs.
Like McIlroy pointed out during his press conference on Wednesday at the Genesis Scottish Open, Harry receives no plaudits when the victories do roll in, yet to some fans and figures, he is the first board the arrows are thrown at when he’s misfiring.
“Hank Haney has never been in that position. Smylie has been in that position once, and I love Smylie, and he was out there with us on 18,” he said. “But 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.
“I just wish that, these guys that criticise when things don’t go my way, they never say anything good when things do go my way.
“So where were they when I won Dubai earlier year or Quail Hollow or the two FedExCups that I’ve won with Harry or the two Ryder Cups or whatever? They are never there to say Harry did such a great job when I win, but they are always there to criticise when we don’t win.”
McIlroy has owned the mistakes, so how can anyone say, “You’re wrong, it was your caddie.”
Even if Harry has regrets of his own, he shouldn’t. The player determines where the ball finishes and no one else.
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Genesis is the title sponsor of the Genesis Scottish Open, the first ever co-sanctioned event by DP World Tour and the PGA Tour. For more information visit www.genesis.com
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