Rory and JP the perfect combination
Later in 2011, his name was dragged through the mud by an American commentator who campaigned long and hard for Fitzgerald’s dismissal.
But McIlroy stood by his man.
And after their magnificent exploits throughout 2012 so brilliantly rounded off in Dubai at the weekend, player and caddie alike are entitled to cock a snout at their detractors.
A fine golfer and twice an Irish Close Championship finalist, Fitzgerald is an intelligent individual who has proven his worth to McIlroy since he took over the bag three and a half years ago.
Although popular with his peers and blessed with a keen sense of humour, he prefers to keep a low profile even if, as caddie to the world number one, that isn’t always easy.
The partnership has known rocky moments. It’s not easy to forget the blistering criticism aimed at him after what happened over the final nine in Augusta. And even though they won the US Open six weeks later by eight shots, the pressure came on again when the bagman was blamed after his boss made a hash of the 18th hole during the Irish Open at Killarney.
To his great credit, McIlroy defended his man to the hilt: “JP has been on the bag since the middle of 2008 when I was 200th in the world. He’s been on the bag through all my wins on Tour. He’s been with me through everything. I have a great relationship with JP. He’s become one of my closest friends over the past three years and it’s a combination I think is working very well.”
Nevertheless, the pair are both too clever not to have appreciated that lessons needed to be learned after the Augusta collapse.
“We sat down and realised where we both went wrong,” said McIlroy.
“We didn’t communicate like we usually do. Everything went very quiet for a while, way too serious. It’s a two-way thing. If he goes quiet, I need to talk to him. If I go quiet, he needs to talk to me.”
The easy working relationship between them coming down the stretch in Dubai on Sunday illustrated how their relationship has developed to a stage where it rivals the Phil Mickelson and Jim “Bones” McKay’s alliance or what used to exist between Tiger Woods and Steve Williams.
The New Zealander was regarded as the best paid sportsman in his native country during Tiger’s glory years and while JP may still be some way shy of that status, he is raking in substantial sums of money weekly.
However, were it not for the boss’s intelligent interpretation of where they were going, that might never have come to pass.
As sections of the British media chose to castigate Fitzgerald in mid-2011, it was a time when he needed friends and one emerged in Chubby Chandler, McIlroy’s manager at the time.
“JP is the perfect minder for Rory as he is a very protective individual,” Chandler maintained. “He gets a bit of stick but an awful lot goes on around Rory McIlroy that a normal caddie wouldn’t meet. JP is not the best caddie in the world but for Rory he is definitely the best caddie in the world.”
The war of words that festered between McIlroy and American golf commentator Jay Townsend at Killarney demonstrated how much Rory thought of his caddie. The American claimed the course management between player and caddie was “shocking, some of the worst I have ever seen beyond U10 boys competition”.
McIlroy’s response was immediate. He told Townsend: “Shut up, you’re a commentator and a failed golfer. I’m the golfer and I hit the shots. JP can’t stand up for himself in the media so I have to stand up for him because he is the best man I can have on my bag.”
