………Dubai, UAE 

World No. 2 Rory Mcllroy will have a new caddy for the European Tour season-ending DP World Tour Championship here in Dubai.

McIlroy arrived in Dubai with good friend and Irish rugby star, Niall O’Connor who will shoulder the four-time Major winner’s bag but just in a one-off arrangement.

Harry Diamond, who has caddied for McIlroy since July 2017, is taking time off to be with his wife, Claire after the birth of the couple’s first child, a daughter named Georgia Iris.

O’Connor, 32 was born at Limavady and not far from the famed Castlerock Club where he is a member. A good of O’Connor’s is European Tour caddy, Ryan McGuigan, and also a proud member at Castlerock and presently caddying for in-form Thomas Detry.

“Nial’s a great fellow and a fellow member of mine at Castlerock, so I’m looking forward to catching-up with him this week,” said McGuigan.

O’Connor represtened Ulster Rugby 0n 59 occasions from 2007 to 2013 and in very first match he kicked four penalty goals in Ulster’s 17-16 win over Ospreys.

And he’s caddied for a McIlroy in the past having called the shots for Rory’s dad, Gerry, at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2018.

Diamond will be back on the bag when McIlroy kicks off his 2020 campaign, with his expected first start at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

O’Connor was spotted Sunday walking this week’s Jumeirah Estates course with yardage book in hand and getting familiar the Dubai venue where McIlroy won first in 2012 and then again in 2015.

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