Donald Calls For Calm After Tensions Boil Over At Final Green

2 years ago by Comments Off on Donald Calls For Calm After Tensions Boil Over At Final Green

Rory McIlroy not only lost his Saturday foursomes match but seemingly lost his patience with one of the top American caddies on day three of the Ryder Cup.

In scenes sure to stoke tensions ahead of Sunday’s singles, McIlroy accused Patrick Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, of waving his hat in his line of vision ahead of the European star’s crucial putt on the 18th green in the final fourballs match in near darkness at the Marco Simone course.

That incident then spilled over to another heated exchange involving McIlroy as he, his wife Erica and Shane Lowry sought to board their BMW from the front of the Marco Simone clubhouse.

McIlroy was seen to be visibly furious outside the clubhouse as Jim “Bones” Mackay, the caddie for Justin Thomas, attempted to intervene.


McIlroy was ushered into a waiting car by European teammate Shane Lowry, but only after plenty of shouting and finger-pointing.

It wasn’t immediately clear who McIlroy was aiming his anger toward but the Northern Irishman was clear from happy.

“Just fuel for the fire tomorrow,” McIlroy said.

LaCava, and like others in the U.S. team, had removed his hat in a playful gesture after Cantlay holed a 45-foot birdie putt in near-darkness on No. 18. and this after European fans waved their caps at Cantlay, likely in response to a report on Sky Sports claiming that the American refused to wear his cap out of protest because he was not being paid not to play in the Ryder Cup.

See @TOURMISS twitter post on Cantlay’s protest:  https://twitter.com/TOURMISS/status/1708092656482406462

European captain Luke Donald said McIlroy “politely had asked Joe to move aside” ahead of taking his hopeful hole-saving putt however what followed was some ugly scenes of finger-pointing and shouting, and very unlike the spirit of the Ryder Cup.

“Yeah, obviously I was there on 18. I saw it unfold when Patrick made that putt, Joe was waving his hat,” explained Donald.

“Obviously there was some hat waving going on throughout the day from the crowd for our players.

“I talked to Rory. He politely asked Joe to move aside. He was in his line of vision. He stood there and didn’t move for a while and continued to wave the hat, so I think Rory was upset about that.”

Donald was asked if the chaotic scenes in Marco Simone changed the perception of the contest for his side.

“Absolutely not. We’ll go out there as 12 strong. I’m excited about my lineup, and you know, I’m not going to strategize upon those things, to be honest. That’s not in my thought whatsoever. I’m going to put out the lineup that I think will be able to win back the Cup tomorrow.

“Ryder Cup is always passionate. We’ve seen that many times over the past — again, I will address all 12 of my guys tomorrow. I’ll give them the right messaging, and they will be ready to play.

Cantlay’s winning birdie drew ugly scenes on the 18th green with tempers flaring and spilling out into the car park with McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Justin Rose seething at the US players and Joe LaCava who apparently stood in his line before his own birdie effort.

McIlroy still had a putt for birdie to tie the match, which he wound up missing.

“He (LaCava) stood there and didn’t move for a while and continued to wave the hat, so I think Rory was upset about that,” Donald said.

Donald said Europe’s players were competitors and they wanted to win “in the right way.”

“From what Rory told me, he did ask Joe to move,” Donald added. “He took a long time to move. It was a little off-putting because he still had to putt.”

Cantlay birdied the final three holes to earn a 1-up win with Wyndham Clark against McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Disappointingly, tempers then flared as players made their way to the area to board their courtesy cars.  There is a video of McIlroy pointing his finger at USA caddy ‘Bones’ McKay, who caddies for Justin Thomas and with Lowry stepping in between McIlroy and McKay, and then forcing McIlroy into a waiting courtesy car and that McIlroy’s wife had boarded to get out of the way of the flare-up.

However, gets back out of the car and heads to ‘Bones’ pointing his finger.

+ Thanks, in part, to AP (Good friend Steve Douglas)

 

 



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