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A former out-half is caddying this week for Rory McIlroy in Dubai
By Online Editors
A former Ulster out-half is on Rory McIlroy’s bag at this week’s DP World Tour Championship event in Dubai.
Niall O’Connor, the 32-year-old who also played for Ireland A, Connacht and Jersey before emigrating to the United States, is filling in for caddy Harry Diamond, McIlroy’s regular bagman who is temporarily unavailable for the Jumeirah Golf Estates event.
"If there's any week where I don't have Harry on the bag, it's good it's this week,” said McIlroy to the European Tour website, europeantour.com.
"I feel like I could play this place blindfolded. I've been coming back here for ten years. I know the place like the back of my hand. Obviously, I'll maybe take on a little bit more responsibility than I usually do and jot stuff down.
“It feels a little bit like when Harry first came on the bag a couple of years ago. I took on a little more responsibility writing stuff in my yardage book and pacing stuff out. I actually quite enjoy that part, as well.
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"Niall and I go back a long way, so for me at this point it's just about trying to stay as relaxed and as loose as possible out there and he can definitely do that for me.
"He's a pretty good golfer himself. He's played a lot of amateur tournaments in Ireland, so he knows the game well and he knows what it's like, how that feels to be in the heat of battle and be under pressure and all that.
"It will be fun to be out there with him this week, and it's a change of pace for both of us. He's obviously stuck in an office in New York most days, so it will be fun.”
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Latest Comments
But he chose rightly or wrongly to play for Tonga. If he wanted to play for the ABs why didn’t he hold off?
Go to comments“A succession of recent ex-players going straight back into the game as coaches in their early 40’s would prob be enough to kill it stone-dead. Innovation would die a death.”
Would it? I do think one of the major differences between rugby and most other sports - which we’ve been overlooking - is the degree to which players are expected to lead team meetings & analysis sessions and the like. Someone like Owen Farrell has basically been an assistant coach already for ten years - and he’s been so under a variety of different head coaches with different expectations and playing styles.
“The most interesting ppl I have met in the game have all coached well into their sixties and they value the time and opportunity they have had to reflect and therefore innovate in the game. That’s based on their ability to compare and contrast between multiple eras.”
I don’t doubt that that’s true. But having interesting insights doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be the best able to inspire a team, or the best at managing the backroom staff.
“Wayne Smith winning the WWC in his mid sixties three years ago prob means nothing to you but it meant a lot to him. It took him back to the roots of is own coaching journey.”
I don’t doubt that! But I don’t think coaches should be hired on the basis that it means a lot to them.
“The likes of Carlo Ancelotti and Wayne Bennett and Andy Reid all have a tale to tell. You should open your ears and listen to it!”
I agree! Never have I ever suggested otherwise!
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