Rory McIlroy has hit back at criticism of his caddie Harry Diamond.
The pair have been working together since 2017 after McIlroy parted company with JP Fitzgerald following a nine-year partnership.
Diamond's appointment was initially believed to be temporary, but four years on and McIlroy 's good friend continues to carry the bag.
They have won six times together, including most recently at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow.
However, some observers have questioned Diamond's input after McIlroy suffered a dip in form earlier in the season.
The former World number one, who is preparing for next week's US Open, believes some of the scrutiny has been unfair.
"This was supposed to be a short-term thing back in 2017, and I ended up really enjoying it, really liking it," McIlroy told Golf Magic.
"We made the decision that this was going to be a long-term thing, and it’s worked out great. We’ve had six wins together.
"I think the reason I wanted to single Harry out, I feel like he gets some negativity around the relationship that’s very unfair, uncalled for.
"People don’t know him, don’t really know me. They sort of see things from the outside and from their own perspective, but they don’t really know."
Diamond's value was highlighted during that win at Quail Hollow.
Going up the last with a two-shot lead, he convinced McIlroy to take a drop following a wayward drive which the Ulsterman played safe to make a bogey-five and clinch the win.
"I wanted to make a point of Harry was 100 per cent the person that told me not to hit that ball on 18 in the creek, and if it wasn’t for him, I probably would have lost the tournament because I’d still probably be trying to hack it out of there," McIlroy added.
"I’m like a dog, if I see a golf ball I want to hit it. It’s there. Or if someone puts a football in front of me I want to kick it. I saw the ball, I wanted to hit it.
"He’s like, let’s just think about this. That was the reason I wanted to single it out, because he kept a cool head when maybe I wasn’t in the best place.
And, yeah, because of that unfair criticism that I think he’s gotten over the last couple years, I wanted to just make a point of we know what we’re doing out there."
