Tiger Woods text and called Rory McIlroy five times right after Joe LaCava spat

Rory McIlroy has confirmed he received two missed calls and three text messages from Tiger Woods immediately after his row with caddie Joe LaCava at the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone in Rome. 

McIlroy was fuming in his Saturday Fourballs match when Patrick Cantlay's caddie LaCava, formerly with Woods, got too close to him on the 18th green.

It led to a controversial bust-up that was eventually taken into the car park. 

Six weeks on, McIlroy has shed more light on what exactly happened in an interview with the Irish Independent. 

McIlroy not only confirmed Woods got in contact with him after the incident, but also explained his "average" relationship with Cantlay.

"Here’s what angered me," McIlroy told Irish Independent's Paul Kimmage. 

"My relationship with Cantlay is average at best. We don’t have a ton in common and see the world quite differently.

"But when I saw he was getting stick on the 17th and 18th greens, I tried to quieten the crowd for him. And I don’t think Fitz and I were afforded the same opportunity to try and hole those putts to halve the match.

"I hit a decent putt but I under-read it basically, and Fitz hit a good putt but left it short, right in the jaws.

"I shook Joe’s hand, and Patrick’s hand. Those three putts he made on 16, 17 and 18 were fantastic, and under that pressure, to give your team a glimmer of hope going into Sunday was big balls. So all respect to him.

"There was a bit of argy-bargy at the back of the 18th green with Fred Couples and Thomas Bjorn – and that’s fine – but as I’m walking back to the locker room I can feel this red mist coming over me: 'No! That wasn’t right.'

"As we’re getting up to leave I’m like, ‘I’m going into their locker room now to sort this out, and Shane [Lowry] was like, 'No Rory. Bad idea.'"

McIlroy then revealed more details about what happened in the car park when he clashed with Justin Thomas' caddie Jim 'Bones' Mackay, formerly the long-time caddie of Phil Mickelson. 

"He’s coming over to try and defuse the situation but he’s wearing an American top, and I know he’s friends with Joe, and I just tripped," said McIlroy.

"Complete rage. I felt bad about it afterwards because Bones’ wife was standing beside him, and I used a lot of swear words. So not my finest moment. Then Shane bundled me into the car.

"We get to the hotel, and as you come into the lobby we go left to our wing of the hotel, and the Americans go right to their wing.

"So we’re going left and someone is shouting at me, ‘Rory! Rory!’, and I look back and it’s Ricky Elliott [Brooks Koepka's caddie] and Claude Harmon [Koepka’s coach].

"And they’re trying to defuse the situation but I start having a go at them. ‘Joe LaCava used to be a nice guy when he was caddying for Tiger, and now he’s caddying for that d**k he’s turned into a …’ I still wasn’t in a great headspace.

"I went back to my room and there was a text from Joe LaCava: ‘Hey Rory, would love to meet up in the morning to clear the air.’ But I was tired and didn’t get back to him.

"There was also three texts and two missed calls from Tiger, because they’re obviously still close. I sent him a quick message: ‘It will be fine … long day … just want to go to bed.’"

What did you make of McIlroy's row with LaCava at the Ryder Cup? Was it all something and nothing or did LaCava overstep the mark? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels. 

Take me to more golf news!