Rory McIlroy has shared a roadmap for the rest of his golf career and explained how his caddie, Harry Diamond, helped him set a new goal for the rest of his career

Rory McIlroy has shared his plans for the rest of his golf career after a message from his caddie Harry Diamond(Image: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy believes he has a maximum of 10 years left at the top of his game after his caddie, Harry Diamond, gave him a new ambition. McIlroy celebrated a career Grand Slam earlier this year and has shared a roadmap for the rest of his career, inspired by his caddie’s words.

The 36-year-old finally clinched his long-awaited Masters victory in an unforgettable showdown, defeating Justin Rose in a playoff to secure his elusive green jacket in April. This triumphant moment placed him in the exclusive club of golfers who have won all four major tournaments.

Despite relishing his Masters win, McIlroy found it challenging to recalibrate after achieving his ultimate goal, as evidenced by his tie for 47th place at the PGA Championship the following month. However, McIlroy, who is gearing up to compete in the Irish Open this week, recently disclosed how a comment from Diamond gave him a renewed sense of purpose that will accompany him throughout his career.

“Harry said to me, pretty soon after I won Augusta, he said, ‘It’s great you’ve won the Grand Slam but I haven’t yet,'” McIlroy recalled on Off the Ball’s Golf Weekly podcast. “So that’s cool. It would be cool to be able to do that with Harry.

“One of my favorite things about winning the Masters was being able to do it with Harry. We met on the putting green at Holywood golf club when I was seven years old and we’re striding up the last hole with the chance to win a green jacket.

“That’s as good as it gets for me. So if he’s on the journey for the rest of my career and we can pick off a few more, that would be amazing.”

Rory McIlroy praised his caddie Harry Diamond after winning the Masters in April(Image: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

The Masters represented McIlroy and Diamond’s first major victory as a team. McIlroy, who thinks he can still compete at golf’s highest level for the next eight to 10 years, captured all four of his previous majors with JP Fitzgerald carrying his clubs. The pair worked together for eight years before McIlroy made the switch to longtime friend Diamond.

McIlroy and Diamond’s partnership has secured multiple PGA Tour wins and two FedEx Cup victories, but Diamond has often been the target of criticism, especially following McIlroy’s near-miss at the 2024 US Open. After completing his career Grand Slam at Augusta, an emotional McIlroy honored his caddie.

“We’ve had so many good times together,” McIlroy said. “He’s been like a big brother to me the whole way through my life. To be able to share this with him after all the close calls that we’ve had, all the crap that he’s had to take from people that don’t know anything about the game, yeah, this one is just as much his as it is mine. He’s a massive part of what I do, and I couldn’t think of anyone better to share it with than him.”

Rory McIlroy has explained how his caddie Harry Diamond helped him find fresh motivation(Image: Warren Little/Getty Images)

A year that has brought one of McIlroy’s greatest career highlights hasn’t been without its challenges. McIlroy feels he could stay among the world’s elite golfers for the next decade, but explained his struggles finding fresh objectives after Augusta.

“I think what I didn’t plan for, what I didn’t think about, was how I was going to feel afterwards,” McIlroy confessed on Off The Ball’s Golf Weekly podcast. “In terms of sort of getting motivated again, to get going, and what am I going to do?”.

“Because for the last decade, my chase was to try to get that elusive Masters and win the Grand Slam. Now that I’ve done that, I think it’s just taken me a little bit of time to recalibrate and think about, ‘Ok, what are my goals for the rest of my career?’ I’m still only 36. I feel like I’ve got another eight to 10 years at the very top level of the game left. So, I think at this point, it’s just about resetting those goals and sort of giving myself more objectives to try to aim for.”