Rory McIlroy came clean about a remark from caddie Harry Diamond that will stick with him for the rest of his golf career05:30, 10 Sep 2026Rory McIlroy will attempt to retain his Irish Open title this week. And throughout the tournament, the golf star carries with him a telling remark made by caddie Harry Diamond after his first Masters success.‌One year ago, McIlroy stood at The K Club's par-5 18th tee needing an eagle to force an Irish Open play-off against Sweden's Joakim Lagergren. That's exactly what the Northern Irishman achieved, hitting two brilliant shots to reach the green before draining a 28-foot putt like it was nothing.‌McIlroy, fresh off his first Masters victory – a feat he would go on to repeat this year – triumphed via the play-off after three holes and lifted the Irish Open for the first time since 2016. He's aiming to replicate what he did at Augusta National in Doonbeg this week and win back-to-back championships.‌But it was just before his victory in September of last year that the now-37-year-old shed light on an admission looper Diamond made just after he donned a Green Jacket for the very first time. And it continues to inspire him.JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! All the best sports news and much more on our dedicated Facebook page"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."‌Diamond has only been on McIlroy's bag for two of his major wins. For his 2011 US Open, 2012 and 2014 PGA Championship and 2014 Open victories, JP Fitzgerald was McIlroy's caddie.Therefore, winning every major, a Grand Slam, with Diamond is on McIlroy's to-do list and evidently motivates him. He continued: "It would be cool to be able to do that with Harry.‌"One of my favourite 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."On his future ambitions, McIlroy admitted: "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?'Article continues below"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."McIlroy's immediate goal is to defend the crown he won last year at the Irish Open from the likes of Jon Rahm and Shane Lowry. The winner of this year's renewal will pocket roughly £775,000 of the £4.56million purse.