Rory McIlroy believes the combination of splitting from long-time caddie JP Fitzgerald and a hot finish to the US PGA Tour season could catapult him back to his once-dominating form.
On Monday, world No.4 McIlroy revealed he had ended the wildly successful partnership with Fitzgerald which commenced in 2008 and delivered all four of the Northern Irishman's major titles, as well as two World Golf Championship wins and last year's $US10 million ($A13 million) FedEx Cup.
McIlroy's childhood friend Harry Diamond, a former elite amateur golfer, will be his caddie for at least this week's World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and the US PGA Championship next week.
The move came as a shock given McIlroy credited Fitzgerald with inspiring McIlroy to turn around a nightmare start of five bogeys in six holes during the final round of the British Open, before storming home to finish tied fourth.
Timing the split on the eve of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational was also a surprise, with the pair teaming up to win the event at Ohio's Firestone Country Club in 2014.
McIlroy has also won two Tour events at North Carolina's Quail Hollow Club, the site of next week's US PGA Championship.
"It's a big change. JP has been a huge part of my life for the last decade. We've achieved a lot together, and it wasn't an easy decision but I felt it was a change that I needed to make," McIlroy said.
The 28-year-old claims the primary reason for ending the partnership was because he was blaming Fitzgerald for his own poor form on the golf course.
McIlroy hasn't won since the season-ending Tour Championship in September 2016.
"I was getting very hard on him on the golf course and I didn't want to treat him like that," he said.
McIlroy suffered a rib injury that sidelined him for seven weeks earlier in 2017 and an additional three weeks prior to the US Open in June.
However, McIlroy says his best finish at the majors this year - his fourth place at the British Open at Royal Birkdale - was the beginning of his comeback to the form that saw him hold the world No.1 ranking for a total of 95 weeks between 2012 and 2015.
"I feel like my game sort of turned a corner at Birkdale, I saw some good fighting qualities," he said.
"These next two weeks - I feel like with how I play around these two golf courses, it could shoot me back into a place where I feel like I belong (at No.1).
Coming to two venues where I've done well at before can only give me confidence."
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