“Make friends with your caddie, and the game will make friends with you.” Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy does indeed stand by the mentioned saying. He lost the US Open trophy to Bryson DeChambeau by just one stroke. And this time his caddie and long-time friend Harry Diamond was criticized for McIlroy’s defeat. Golfing instructor Hank Haney and commentator Smylie Kaufman accused Diamond of not making the right call on the course.
They speculated that it was the reason why he could not bag another major win. However, the Irish professional golfer stood up for Diamond and pushed back criticism. He stated that while people are hard on criticism, they never stand up to compliments when things go well. “They are never there to say Harry did such a great job when I win, but they are always there to criticize when we don’t win,” he said. Well, it looks like that McIlroy has set a precedent.
Joel Dahmen was penalized four shots Thursday when he discovered an extra 4-iron in his golf bag at the 2024 Shriners Children’s Open on the fourth tee. When asked about the situation and his reaction when he found out, he stated that it had never happened before. “I travel with 15, 16 clubs. I think most people out here do depending on conditions and courses,” he said. He began by saying that he would like to blame it on his caddie, Geno Bonnalie since that is the easier choice, but in all honesty, “It’s not his fault either.” Just these five words were enough to show that Dahmen trusts Geno, no matter how their relationship has been through ups and downs.
Joel Dahmen defended his caddie despite criticism from golf fans. They were at the TPC Summerlin practicing through the past two days, but none of them noticed the two 4-irons in his bag. Although he was frustrated at what had happened, he made sure that his caddie was not put under criticism for what was a collective mistake. “You know, you just want to get so mad, and you want to get mad at everything. At the same time, I just got to keep playing golf, and I didn’t do a great job of that afterwards,” he added at the post-R1 presser.
via Imago
Dahmen is currently 5-over with the penalties. Had it not been for it, he would have been 1-over. This penalty can be a tough one to come back from but let’s see how the golfer holds up. Nonetheless, he accepted that a lot of weird things happen in the game of golf. But initially, he could not control his emotions on seeing the extra 4-iron.
Unwavering support was what calmed Joel Dahmen
When Joel Dahmen and his caddie went up for the fourth tee, the golfer went to grab water. It was when he walked over to his bag and saw the extra 4-iron. He could not keep his calm initially. “I think there might have been a couple of curse words,” he said. The golfer obviously wanted to get mad at everything. “It was one of those moments where you like want to lose it and you want to get mad, be mad at yourself, be mad at Geno, be mad at the world,” added Dahmen. But he was grateful for everything golf has given to him.
Joel Dahmen and his wife Lona created the Dahmen Foundation with a vision to raise funds for charities benefiting 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren and families through golf. While people were donating money for charity, he remembered that the game of golf had all its uncertainties; “But you look around and people are donating a bunch of money to our foundation and life is not that bad. It’s a mistake. It’s going to happen. Unfortunately happened at this moment in time.”
Although the duo feels terrible, they look forward to carding several birdies in the second round. What are your thoughts about the situation? Do you think McIlroy has inspired Dahmen? Let us know in the comments section below!
