Rory McIlroy has shed light on his heated confrontation with Patrick Cantlay's caddie, Joe LaCava, during this year's Ryder Cup. The Northern Irishman said he was angered by LaCava's celebrations as he lined up a putt during the Saturday evening match. McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick lost by a hole to Cantlay and Wyndham Clark, though Europe eventually triumphed 16½-11½.
McIlroy told the Irish Independent that he had tried to quieten the crowd for Cantlay earlier, but felt he and Fitzpatrick were not afforded the same respect. He acknowledged Cantlay's three putts on holes 16, 17 and 18 were 'fantastic', but the incident with LaCava left him seeing 'red mist' as he walked back to the locker room.
The world number two also revealed that Tiger Woods had tried to mediate, sending three texts and making two missed calls. McIlroy replied briefly, saying he wanted to go to bed. He later met LaCava after the event, but implied it did not go well, remarking that LaCava 'used to be a nice guy' but had become an 'arse' since caddying for Cantlay.
McIlroy also confronted another US caddie, Jim 'Bones' Mackay, on the same night. He expressed regret, admitting he used 'a lot of swear words' in front of Mackay's wife. Shane Lowry bundled him into a car. McIlroy said he used the confrontations as fuel for his singles victory the next day.
