RORY McILROY saved his Open round from total disaster after being blasted by caddie JP Fitzgerald.
The 2014 Open winner was asked “what the f*** are you doing?’ on the sixth tee and reminded exactly who he was by his loyal bagman.
McIlroy was four over after five and already looking like notching his third missed cut in a row.
But Fitzgerald stepped in and sorted his man out with a tongue lashing and now the Northern Irishman sits on one over after being five over through six.
McIlroy said: “JP, he reminded me who I was, basically. He said, ‘You’re Rory McIlroy, what the f*** are you doing?’.
“I said, ‘Yeah.’ At that point I mumbled and said, ‘Whatever.’ But it did, it helped. It definitely helped. It kept me positive. So he did a great job.
“On the sixth tee he just sort of reminded me who I was and what I was capable of. And gave me a few positive thoughts.
“He’s not had to do it too often. But, yeah, he’s had to do it a few times. And he’s never afraid to do that.
“And I feel today it helped a lot more than at other times because I needed something. It wasn’t I couldn’t look within myself. I was trying to look within myself. But JP kept me positive out there, so that was very much appreciated.”
Incredibly the four-time Major winner said he took to the course “timid” and didn’t recover till the dressing down.
Now he is still in with a shot of chasing down the trio of American leaders Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka and Matt Kuchar on five under.
He added: “I was nervous going out. I was a little anxious, timid. Just not as much belief in myself as I should have had.
"I could be standing here and hit 18 greens and shot one over and missed every putt and feel terrible.
"But because of the way I started, I actually feel really positive. It's a bit like Ryder Cup at Medinah in '12.
"We're 10-6 down on Saturday night but we feel like we were right in with a chance, because we won the last two points. It's sort of like that."
And he insists he can still lift the Claret Jug for a second time because he's come from behind before.
McIlroy said: " I was four over through three holes last year in Boston. And won that tournament. So I've done it before."
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