TORONTO, Ont. – Although Rory McIlroy has different sneakers this week at the RBC Canadian Open, that doesn’t seem to affect his 36-hole performance.
McIlroy’s usual caddy, Harry Diamond, is at home as he and his wife are expecting their second child every day.
Defending champion RBC Canadian Open uses his longtime friend Niall O’Connor instead. O’Connor has scored for McIlroy once before, at the 2019 World Cup in Dubai. The couple met in their late teens.
O’Connor played high-level rugby for Ulster and settled with a good friend of McIlroy’s. He is also an avid golfer.
“I’m kind of connected through my love of rugby and its game and our love of golf,” McIlroy said. “He moved to the United States a few years ago and (we) stayed close.”
McIlroy sits at the 6-bottom title this weekend and is close to the top of the charts as he tries to defend his PGA TOUR title for the first time.
“Overall, it was a good result today,” McIlroy said. “I was in a hurry when I had to. I really didn’t take advantage of how well I hit him. But overall, I felt that the couple below was a fair reflection of how the day went. “
McIlroy said Diamond, with whom he has been working since 2017, “hopes” to be in the bag next week at the US Open.
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