Rory McIlroy has been dominating the golf news in recent weeks after his decision to split with long-term caddie JP Fitzgerald following the The Open.

The Northern Irishman split with former caddie JP Fitzgerald after nine years in order to "preserve [their] personal relationship”.

After splitting with his long-term caddie, McIlroy turned to Harry Diamond, who was best man at his wedding, to carry his bag for what turned out to be an encouraging first tournament together at Firestone.

Diamond received an grade “A” from McIlroy, as the latter finished joint fifth on seven under, with four sub-70 rounds at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

"Harry was good, and he encouraged me when I needed it," said McIlroy.

"We both did yardages and we didn't really make any mistakes out there. He did what was expected of him, so I guess you can't not give him an A."

McIlroy will now head to Quail Hollow this week for the last Major of the year, the PGA Championships, and the Northern Irishman can take many positives with him.

Having suffered for form lately, he is searching for his first win of the year and his first Major for three years.

"I thought I saw some improvements in my game from when I got here on Wednesday," he added.

"I thought my wedge play got a little bit better as the week went on, and I putted pretty well. Even when I missed putts out there, they were scaring the hole, so that was good.

"I drove the ball well, so everything that I need to do next week, I'm pretty comfortable with. I'm just excited to get there and have a good look at some of the changes and get myself prepared for next Thursday.

“I’ve won a couple of times around Quail Hollow, and I like the PGA Championship setups,” he said, as he also suggested that he was “happy” to be labelled the favourite.

The US PGA Championship begins on Thursday, with McIlroy teeing off at 18:35 alongside Jon Rahm and Rickie Fowler.