“Harry was awesome out there today” – Rory McIlroy on his way to winning the Wells Fargo Championship

“Harry was awesome out there today” – Rory McIlroy on his way to winning the Wells Fargo Championship

Rory McIlroy with caddie Harry Diamond

Irish golfer Rory McIlroy, on his way to winning the Wells Fargo Championship in May 2021, made one of those on-your-way-to-winning decisions. His drive on the tournament’s final hole had skipped left and landed into a penalty area, but, on the advice of his caddie, Harry Diamond, he took a penalty stroke. Instead of trying a swing from an awkward sidehill lie, McIlroy dropped into a better spot and walked away with just a bogey five with water a few feet away. 

“Harry was awesome out there today, especially that decision on the last,” McIlroy said.

“I was ready to get in there and try to play that with a lob wedge, and he was sort of like, ‘Let’s take a step back, let’s think about this. Where’s the best place you’re hitting your third from?’ So he sort of calmed me down and slowed me down a little bit and said, ‘Pal, let’s just think about this a little bit.’”

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“See amateurs so much trying to play outside of their comfort zone”

Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy

Rory also tried to shed light on the most common mistake amateurs tend to make, reckoning they try so much to play outside of their comfort zone and not playing the shot they know.

“I think effective golf sometimes can be pretty boring, or in people’s minds, it can be pretty boring,” McIlroy said. “Playing the shot that you know you can play, or that you can pull off at least eight times out of 10. I think I see, I see amateurs so much trying to play outside of their comfort zone and trying to take on shots that they think they should hit instead of keeping the ball in play, you know, managing their games a little better and that will produce lower scores.”

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