Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that New angle from live play showed the angle of Joe LaCava on the 18th green in Rory McIlroy’s line as he prepared for his birdie putt before carpark confrontation.
This is the second hat-related controversy involving Cantlay to some degree. Sky Sports News’ Jamie Weir reported the 31-year-old declined to wear the United States’ team hat as a form of protest over his lack of compensation for the event.
The United States trails Europe by five points thanks to a disastrous opening day. The U.S. dropped all four of the foursomes in Friday’s morning session to dig itself into a deep hole.
For a team that desperately needs some sort of spark to mount a massive comeback Sunday, LaCava may have provided one.
Rory McIlroy confronted a Team USA caddie in the car park, after he was spotted waving his cap in McIlroy’s face when lining up his final putt on 18…Rory McIlroy was involved in angry exchanges at the end of a scintillating Saturday at the Ryder Cup that saw Europe move within four points of regaining the trophy.
The Northern Irishman confronted Patrick Cantlay’s caddie on the 18th green and was later ushered away from an ugly-looking scene in the car park by team-mate Shane Lowry.
McIlroy was annoyed at the way Joe LaCava celebrated Cantlay’s 30-foot birdie putt and the row spilled over behind the scenes.
LaCava was close to McIlroy, waving his hat in the air, while the Northern Irishman tried to line up his own putt. Fellow American caddie Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay was seen among the chaos, but he attempted to calm the situation.
The USA won three of this afternoon session’s four matches to go into Sunday’s singles five points behind, at 10.5-5.5.
Speaking after his defeat earlier today, McIlroy said: “Matt and I played well.
“Obviously they had a great finish and Patrick made three great putts at the end to seal the deal, so hats off to them. LaCava — 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. Throughout the afternoon, thousands of European fans waved their caps at Cantlay, likely in response to a report on Sky Sports claiming that he refused to wear his cap out of protest because he wants to be paid.
European captain Luke Donald said McIlroy “politely asked Joe to move aside.” McIlroy still had a putt for birdie to tie the match, which he wound up missing. Europe captain Luke Donald, who watched the events unfold from the side of the green, said: “I’ve 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.”
US skipper Zach Johnson said: “A celebration is a celebration. With a big putt like that on 18 at the Ryder Cup, I think you have every right to celebrate with your team and that’s exactly what I saw.”
“I’ve never had so many standing ovations going to tee boxes and greens,” Cantlay said. “I thought it was fantastic. You know, I told Wyndham when we were going to the first tee today that we were going to use all the energy out there as fuel, and we did.”
Cantlay denied the report and said the Ryder Cup wasn’t about being paid. He said he wasn’t wearing a hat because it didn’t fit. He didn’t wear one during the Americans’ 19-9 win at Whistling Straits in 2021 for the same reason.
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