Rory McIlroy Says It's All Good With Joe LaCava After Heated Ryder Cup Sunday
Rory McIlroy said he and Joe LaCava have made peace after their tense encounters at the Ryder Cup on Sept. 30.
In an interview with the BBC over the weekend while at an F1 race in Austin, Texas, McIlroy said he and LaCava, the former caddie for Tiger Woods who know works for American golfer Patrick Cantlay, spoke on the Sunday night following the European victory over the U.S.
"Things happen in the heat of the moment, tensions were high," McIlroy said during the interview. "Joe LaCava came into the European team room on the Sunday night and had a drink and a chat.
Rory McIlroy and Joe LaCava smoothed things over before leaving Rome.
Alessandra Tarantino/AP
"I've had a great relationship with Joe over the years when he caddied for Tiger and that wasn't going to change.
"For me, the incident happened, I purposely didn't want to meet anyone on the Sunday morning because I wanted what had happened to fuel me for that day. My whole focus was let's make sure Europe win the Ryder Cup and then we will sort all the other stuff out afterwards.
"And it's all fine. We're all friends now."
McIlroy exchanged heated words with LaCava on the 18th green at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome as the final match of the second day was occurring.
For most of the afternoon, Cantlay had been taunted by fans for not wearing a cap during the Ryder Cup, reportedly as a protest for not getting compensated to play in the Ryder Cup. (Cantlay repeatedly denied that was the reason for not wearing a hat.)
At the final hole, Cantlay made an unlikely 40-foot birdie putt to go up in the match with partner Wyndham Clark against McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick. Both European players still had shorter putts to tie.
The entire U.S. team that was on or near the green began waving their hats to the crowd, including LaCava, who was on the green and near McIlroy’s putting line. Words were exchanged on the green and then later that night in the parking lot McIlroy was seen shouting at the U.S. side.
McIlroy won his singles match the following day and Europe won the Cup, 16½ to 11½. Afterward, McIlroy described LaCava’s actions as disrespectful. "It’s a point of contention and it still hurts, but time is a great healer and we all move on," he said that night.
LaCava, who began working for Fred Couples in the early 1990s, started caddying for Tiger Woods in 2011. He made the decision in May of this year to go to work for Cantlay.