Rory McIlroy says the decision to split from long-term caddie JP Fitzgerald was done to preserve their friendship.
The pair had been together for nine years as McIlroy made it to the top of the World rankings and won four majors along the way.
News of the split first surfaced on Monday but the Ulsterman remained tight lipped until he met the press on the eve of the WGC Bridgestone invitational on Wednesday.
“Let's address the elephant in the room,” said one reporter at the start of the press conference.
"J.P.'s not that big," McIlroy quipped. He then went on to explain the decision to axe Fitzgerald.
McIlroy’s reasoning wasn’t without contradictions.
He cited a bid to protect an increasingly strained personal relationship as the reason for ending his professional relationship with Fitzgerald.
The buddies over business reason may have made sense if not for the fact that McIlroy has appointed Harry Diamond as his caddy.
The amateur golfer is McIlroy's long time friend, and was best man at his wedding:
“It's a big change. J.P. has been a huge part of my life for the last decade, a lot of great times on and off the golf course.
“I still consider J.P. one of my best friends, closest friends, but sometimes to preserve a personal relationship you have to sacrifice a professional one, and that's sort of the decision I came to at the end
“I was getting really hard on him on the golf course, and I don't want to treat anyone like that. I felt like it was the right thing to do. Never seems like a good time to do it.
“It wasn't an easy decision, but at the end of the day I felt like it was a decision I needed to make.
“We got to a point where if I hit the wrong shot I was getting mad at J.P., and I'd much rather be angry at myself.
“Player-caddie relationships have their ups and downs. There were probably just a few too many of those over the past year or so.
“I'll take on a bit more of the responsibility, and I have actually enjoyed that I just needed someone who knew me, and that's why I picked Harry for the next two weeks. We'll see how it goes.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rory McIlroy: "I hate the term fired or sacked or axed" <a href="https://t.co/yunTHczvbu">pic.twitter.com/yunTHczvbu</a></p>— 98FM Sport (@98FMsport) <a href="https://twitter.com/98FMsport/status/893060307798634496">August 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
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