Rory McIlroy nearly ruined his reputation as golf’s Mr Nice Guy during a row with ‘d***’ Patrick Cantlay’s caddie. In a rare episode of anger, the Northern Irishman confronted Joe LaCava after feeling ‘red mist’ at the 2023 Ryder Cup.
LaCava – who was once Tiger Woods’ caddie – irritated McIlroy by walking near the four-time major champion as he was lining up a putt on the final hole. McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick went on to lose their match against Cantlay and Wyndham Clark.
The 35-year-old argued with LaCava and the row continued into the car park later that day. McIlroy described his relationship with Cantlay as “average at best” and claimed LaCava had become an “a***” since teaming up with the American, who the World No. 3 describes as a “d***”.
“Here’s what angered me. My relationship with [Patrick] Cantlay is average at best,” McIlroy told the Irish Independent in November 2023. “We don’t have a tonne 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 quiet the crowd for him. And I don’t think Fitz (Matt Fitzpatrick) and I were afforded the same opportunity to try and hole those putts to halve the match.
“I shook Joe’s (LaCava) 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.’
“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*** (Cantlay) he’s turned into an a***. I still wasn’t in a great headspace.”
McIlroy also revealed that he exchanged messages with Woods later that day, with the American still maintaining a relationship with LaCava.
“There were also three texts and two missed calls from Tiger because [LaCava and Woods are] obviously still close,” said McIlroy. “I sent him a quick message: ‘It will be fine – long day – just want to go to bed’.”
