Shane Lowry says the decision to change caddie from Bo Martin to Darren Reynolds earlier this year "kind of came out of nowhere".
The Offaly man, who finished tied for 35th at the Players Championships over the weekend, now has Darren Reynolds on his bag.
"We started in the Middle East, and I had a bad couple of weeks, and we just kind of, we had a chat and things weren't going... when I sit down and look at it things that weren't going as well as I probably thought," Lowry said about the decision to end his partnership with Martin in January.
21 July 2019; Shane Lowry of Ireland celebrates with his caddie Brian Martin after winning The Open Championship on Day Four of the 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Portrush, Co Antrim. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
"It got to me a little bit, and I just needed some fresh... I knew, when it happened, I had no one in mind, no one lined up, so I didn't know what to do.
"[Bo was on my bag for] four and a half years. It's a long time. Even I read some stuff after... I've had two caddies my whole career, and I've been on tour 14 years. I'm not exactly a caddie firer or anything."
Shane Lowry: 'This is my third caddie'
Prior to Martin becoming his caddie, Lowry had worked with Dermot Byrne. Bray native Reynolds will be the third man to carry Lowry's bag on tour.
"This is my third caddie," said Lowry.
8 July 2018; Paul Dunne of Ireland, right, and his caddie Darren Reynolds leave the 11th tee box during Day Four of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Golf Championship at Ballyliffin Golf Club in Ballyliffin, Co. Donegal. Photo by John Dickson/Sportsfile
"And it did take me... that week in Phoenix was a bit weird for me, and I felt a bit different. But thankfully we went to LA and we had a decent result, and then we went and contended at the Honda.
"Bay Hill didn't go to play, but Bay Hill is not a place I typically go, and then but for the first round here, we've had a decent week this week, so it's gone well so far.
"I've known Darren for years. He had just started with Alex Levy on the European Tour. That's almost why I didn't want to ask him, because I knew he just got a new job and I didn't want to take him away and then it not work out for us.
"But, frankly, he was one of the few options I had, and we just had a chat. He caddied for me during Covid for a few weeks when Bo couldn't, and yeah, it's been going pretty good."
Lowry added that Reynolds does have some experience of caddying at The Masters. He did so with Paul McGinley "a long time ago".
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