Patrick Cantlay on what he told Rory McIlroy after caddie bust-up
"It was a crazy 24 hours..." Patrick Cantlay reveals what he said to Rory McIlroy on Sunday at the Ryder Cup.
Patrick Cantlay has revealed exactly what he said to Rory McIlroy following a "crazy 24 hours" that saw him accused of misleading information in the team room and his own caddie involved in a bust-up with the European Ryder Cup star.
Cantlay spoke to the media after he was on the losing side at the Ryder Cup.
Zach Johnson's Team USA rallied at the end of the Sunday Singles but it was all too little too late as they were eventually defeated by Luke Donald's Team Europe 16.5-11.5 in Rome.
Cantlay ripped into a reporter after he won his Sunday singles match at the Ryder Cup.
Per Sky Sports, Cantlay was said to have been leading a rift within the Team USA locker room over his apparent unhappiness that players at the Ryder Cup do not get compensated.
It was claimed he wasn't wearing a hat as a protest and sitting on a separate side in the dressing room alongside his good buddy Xander Schauffele.
For his part Cantlay denied the story about the cap, saying it simply didn't fit and the plan all week was not to wear one.
From Saturday afternoon onwards thousands of European fans waved their caps at the American to goad him.
Team USA players had his back, with several players deciding not to wear them as support.
With that story seemingly now cleared up, there was another controversial story playing out in the Cantlay camp over the weekend.
That involved his own stand-in caddie Joe LaCava involved in a bust-up with McIlroy on the 18th green during their fourballs tussle on Saturday afternoon.
LaCava, who was given permission to join Cantlay from his long-term boss Tiger Woods earlier this season, was seen waving his cap in the air in celebration with the rest of Team USA beside the 18th green after Cantlay had drained a 30-footer for birdie.
Man, he is out there for a LONG time.pic.twitter.com/Tqlj2eNucG
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) October 1, 2023
McIlroy still had a putt from 20 feet to force a tied match, but LaCava was still intent on giving it large to the Northern Irishman.
It then all kicked off.
McIlroy missed his putt, and so too did Matt Fitzpatrick from 15 feet.
It meant the Team USA pairing Cantlay and Wyndham Clark won the match 1up, and it gave them a glimmer of hope heading into the Singles at 10.5-5.5 down.
Cantlay and Clark were 1 down in their match standing on the 17th tee.
But McIlroy was not prepared to leave the actions of LaCava.
He took aim at LaCava not just on the green with the rest of Team Europe, but then again in the car park with Jim 'Bones' Mackay, caddie of Justin Thomas, getting the brunt of McIlroy's fire.
So what did Cantlay have to say to McIlroy when he got chance to speak to him on Sunday night at the Ryder Cup?
Cantlay, who is getting married to Nikki Guidish on Monday, said:
McIlroy did indeed play well taking 4 points from a possible five matches.
Cantlay eaned 2 points from four games.
Both McIlroy and Cantlay won their singles matches.
McIlroy took care of Sam Burns 3&1 while Cantlay defeated Justin Rose 2&1.
McIlroy spoke to reporters about the LaCava incident on Sunday night.
He is still very angry about it all.
McIlroy said:
The World No.2 added:
McIlroy has since apologied to Mackay, the former long-time caddie of Phil Mickelson:
NEXT PAGE: MCILROY REVEALS EXACTLY WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN AT THE NEXT RYDER CUP!
What did you make of all the Cantlay and LaCava controversy this week? Should McIlroy have reacted in the manner he did? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels.