We may now be a week removed from the end of the Ryder Cup, but you get the sense that Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, and the rest of the European team are still basking in the glory of their triumph at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club.
The contest with the Americans was a tense one, both on and off the course. It was clear that the home team were desperate to avenge the heavy defeat they suffered at Whistling Straits in 2021, something that led to no shortage of emotional outbursts over the course of the three days.
While most of those came in response to positive moments for the Europeans, the most memorable came due to a clash with someone involved in the rival setup.
The incident involving Rory McIlroy and caddie Joe LaCava has been well discussed at this stage, with the Northern Irishman ver unhappy with LaCava's actions on the 18th green on Saturday afternoon.
‘Hatgate’ - the unabridged version.
The caddie was completely out of order here in my view and was deliberately trying to put Rory off.
LaCava’s ‘excuse’ to Shane was, “I just wanted to celebrate” -
Utter bulls*it, Joe. pic.twitter.com/d9pzBN5mwN— TheGolfDivoTee™ (@TheGolfDivoTee) October 1, 2023
That was something that resulted in a car park confrontation later in the day, with Shane Lowry having to pull back his friend in an attempt to deescalate the situation.
As it turns out, the Offaly native was fairly unhappy at the time himself.
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Shane Lowry had angry reaction to Rory McIlroy incident
Fred Couples got a front row view to the incident on 18th, with the US Ryder Cup vice-captain following McIlroy's match against Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark.
At the time, he was confronted by Shane Lowry and Europe vice-captain Thomas Bjorn, both of whom felt LaCava was completely out of line. Couples didn't agree with them.
As reported by Golf.com, speaking on the SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio show this week, he recalled how the whole situation played out.
I asked him what was said. He said Rory looked at him and said, ‘Mooove.’ And he made the 'ooo' last a little longer.
And Joe replied, ‘Relax, Rory'...
I want someone to tell me where anything that happened is disrespectful. I didn’t see it...
Rory, God bless, Rory, ’cause when he makes a putt in the Ryder Cup, he screams and yells ‘vamos’ and ‘let’s go’ and all that. That’s what you should do. Joe LaCava was standing [on the green]. I don’t think he moved two feet...
Shane Lowry and Thomas Bjorn were screaming some things at him, which is fine. I don’t have any problem with Shane Lowry or Thomas Bjorn — they’re protecting the number one player on their team.
But no one did anything wrong. [LaCava] didn’t bump into [McIlroy]. He didn’t stand over him. It wouldn’t be a 15-yard penalty in college football for taunting. … He said he was 6 feet from him. Was Joe right? Probably not. [But] did anyone disrespect the European team?..
Shane Lowry and Thomas Bjorn both put their hands on my shoulder and said, ‘That’s bull—. That’s so wrong. What just happened?’”
I said, ‘Look, you guys, I’m not here to argue about it. We won a point. I didn’t see anything horrible.'
And then [Lowry] said, ‘Well, I was at Whistling Straits. As I kept walking,” Couples said, “I just looked back and said, ‘What does that have to do with anything?’
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Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy seemed to enjoy the European Ryder Cup victory more than anyone else on the team, perhaps spurred on by this incident.
While the next edition of the event is two years away, you get the sense they will still be thinking about it when they tee it up against the Americans in 2023.
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