Little-known story about the special person behind Rory McIlroy's success

Rory McIlroy was disappointed with a missed putt on the 18th hole in the final day of The Masters 2025 on Sunday (April 13). Before that, he also had a double bogey on the 13th hole, another bogey on the 14th hole. Instead of winning the title early, he had to play a tense playoff with Justin Rose, who scored 10 birdies on the fourth day of competition.

During a break before the play-off, McIlroy's caddie Harry Diamond told the Northern Irishman, "It's okay, mate, we'll still be winners on Monday."

The words gave McIlroy a confidence boost. He putted the ball perfectly on the green, three feet from the hole, while Rose’s was 10 feet away. Rose then needed two strokes to complete the hole, and McIlroy made the first putt. Overwhelmed, McIlroy hugged Diamond and was silent for a minute. It was a moment neither of them would forget, when the pressure was gone and years of hard work paid off.

Memorable moments of McIlroy and caddie Diamond on the day of winning The Masters 2025.

McIlroy has been under immense pressure for 11 years without a major title. He has tried everything from hypnotherapy, reading, podcasting and weight gain. Ahead of the 2025 Masters, McIlroy even sought help from a psychologist.

There is only one thing McIlroy refuses to change, and that is his caddie. After many failures, experts and the media blamed Diamond and advised McIlroy to find a better caddie, but he ignored them.

At the 2025 Genesis Invitational in San Diego in January, after a missed putt, a fan shouted: "Blame the caddie." McIlroy immediately responded, defending Diamond: "Shut up."

Not only McIlroy, Diamond is also under great pressure every time the Northern Irish golfer does not compete successfully.

To be fair, Diamond is a good golfer, having won the West of Ireland in 2012 and reached the final of the Northern Ireland Championship in 2011. However, as a caddie, Diamond is not excellent at reading shots, nor does he help McIlroy make the right club choices in specific situations.

At the 2024 US Open, McIlroy finished second to Bryson DeChambeau partly because of a terrible swing on the par-3 15th hole, which missed the green and landed in the thick grass. Tiger Woods' former swing coach commented that if McIlroy had used an 8-iron instead of a 7, the result would have been different, and blamed Diamond for using the wrong club.

As usual, McIlroy said the criticism aimed at Diamond was "unfair", and "Just because Harry doesn't talk as much or as loudly as other caddies doesn't mean he doesn't say anything, doesn't do anything".

McIlroy has always appreciated Diamond's contributions.

McIlroy and Diamond are not just golfers and caddies. As the 2025 Masters champion confided after his victory, he has known Diamond since he was 7 years old.

"I met him on the golf course at Holywood Golf Club. We shared some great times together and Harry has been like a big brother to me," McIlroy said through tears. "It's great to share a moment of glory with Harry, after all the failures and criticism he's had from people who don't know anything about golf. This is his victory too."

Diamond has been McIlroy’s best friend for years, and was even present at his wedding in 2017. That same year, McIlroy parted ways with caddie JP Fitzgerald. He brought Diamond into the role, not because he needed a mentor, but because he needed someone who truly understood him and could temper his volatile temper in extreme situations.

Once hailed as a prodigy, and then winning four majors by the age of 25, McIlroy knew what to do on the golf course, from practicing, planning and reading situations. All he needed was a friend. Diamond provided that. And together, they became winners.

Winning The Masters 2025, in addition to the Cup and the green jacket, McIlroy will receive 3.7 million euros in prize money. This is the largest prize he has ever won in his 18-year professional career. As a caddie, Diamond received 370,000 euros. In addition, Diamond also has a fixed salary paid by McIlroy. It is estimated that McIlroy's caddie has received 700,000 euros over the past eight years.

Thanh Hai

Source: https://tienphong.vn/chuyen-it-biet-ve-nguoi-dac-biet-dung-sau-thanh-cong-cua-rory-mcilroy-post1734193.tpo