‘I think he needs a new caddie. It’s holding him back’ – Rory McIlroy’s key calls cost him US Open says Eddie Pepperell

The former Qatar Masters and British Masters winner (33) said on The Chipping Forecast podcast that key clubbing mistakes on the 15th and 18th ultimately cost the County Down man the US Open.

“Sometimes, to win a golf tournament, you need to limp over the line, and I’m adamant that it is your caddie on occasions like that can really be the difference that can pull you over that finishing line,” Pepperell said.

“I just think, observing Rory today, that was the big thing that was lacking.”

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While McIlroy’s pulled drives put him in trouble coming down the stretch, Pepperell believes his choice of club on the 205-yard 15th, when he overshot the green into a sandy area and made the first of three bogeys in the last four holes, cost him dear.

Admitting the missed short putts at the 16th and 18th were “the most un-Rory McIlroy-like thing I’ve ever seen”, he pointed to the choice of the club on the 15th and the decision to hit driver rather than an iron or fairway wood at the 449-yard 18th as the key mistakes.

“My immediate takeaway is that with a stronger caddie, he would not have made the bogey he made on the 15th,” Pepperell said.

“It was a poor choice of club, and he hit in the one place he shouldn’t have hit it, and then, and from that point onwards, I think that’s the bogey that changed the momentum and his mindset more than anything.

“He looked so comfortable and in control and he just needed to hit it to the front part of that green on 15. Easier said than done. And I really think he would have walked away with that trophy.”

Conceding that the ultimate responsibility lies with the player, Pepperell added: “A strong caddie, a Stevie Williams-type figure, I’m adamant would have could have just got hold of Rory on 15 and just pulled him through that finish.

“I just think Rory needs somebody who’s capable, like (former caddie) JP (Fitzgerald) probably used to be able to do and help him get across that line.

“That was an inexplicable club decision on 15 and possibly the last too.”

He added: “I wouldn’t have said this If he had won but I think he needs a new caddie. I hate saying that about Harry because I’m sure he’s a lovely guy. And I’m sure he’s a good caddie.

“But today, I felt Rory needed somebody that could pull him through the finish line. Rory should never have lost that golf tournament today.

“And I’m adamant about that. I’m sure if he had a super experienced, strong caddie, he would have just pulled him through.

“And I think that that’s the thing that’s holding him back in Majors. I could be wrong, but that’s what I think and a bogey on 15 was just emblematic.

“He was in complete control. Watching on the television, Bryson looked nervous, he looked tense. Rory looked supremely confident and he picked the wrong club on 15.

“He hit a good shot, but it went long in the one place he couldn’t hit, made a bogey.

“I know what that feels like as a player when you’re in control on a Sunday. You want to get to the 18th green without anything getting in your way that can scupper your mindset because you’re in this lovely little rhythm.

“And obviously in a US Open, it’s so easy to get jolted out of that rhythm because there’s disaster lurking around any corner. But that’s where a great caddie would have just made Rory hit an eight iron to 45 feet front left and just two putt and he made a bogey at the wrong time.

“To my mind watching it, it just set him up for what happened.”