Rory McIlroy has shared what his relationship with Patrick Cantlay is now like after the pair were at the centre of one of the most heated moments of last year’s Ryder Cup.
Europe appeared to be heading to an emphatic win at Marco Simone, having led 9.5-2.5 after the opening three sessions in Rome.
Rory McIlroy was one of the stars of the show for Luke Donald’s side, winning his first three matches. And with Matthew Fitzpatrick seemingly holing everything from everywhere, it seemed to be a safe bet to assume that they would bring back a point from their Saturday fourballs match with Patrick Cantlay and US Open champion Wyndham Clark.
However, Cantlay had other ideas. The American had received stick from the crowd for most of the day amid reports that he was not wearing a team cap in protest over not getting paid to play in the competition (via Guardian).
Rory McIlroy says he’s now on good terms with Patrick Cantlay
So it was hardly surprising that his 43 foot putt on the final green sparked wild celebrations from those supporting the visitors.
McIlroy however, was particularly unhappy with Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava’s reaction to the putt when the Northern Irishman still had a chance to halve the match.
Remarkably, footage later emerged showing McIlroy having to be dragged into a car by Shane Lowry that same evening as tensions continued to boil over.
Things had seemingly calmed down by the time the singles kicked off on Sunday. And speaking on Stick to Football, McIlroy opened up on what his relationship with Cantlay is now like following those dramatic scenes.
“If you play an away game at Anfield you get abused for 90 minutes. Cantlay got abused for 10 hours out on that golf course so that gets to you at some point and I actually think he handled it really well, how he played those last few holes. He birdied 16, birdied 17 and then big putt at the last. Fair play. That’s huge balls and it gave his team a glimmer of hope going into the last day,” he said.
“So as a competitor and as a golfer I have nothing but respect for Patrick Cantlay, he’s an amazing player.
But all the stuff that happened afterwards – and I lost it too – there are things that happened after that I regret, I used some language in front of people you should never use and I am sitting in the car afterwards going I probably shouldn’t have done that but we shook hands and made up and we had a beer together on Sunday night and everything was fine.”
Saturday spat not enough to inspire American comeback
It has to be said that Cantlay thrived as the pantomime villain. He followed that win by beating Justin Rose on the Sunday as Zach Johnson’s men briefly threatened to produce what would have been one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history.
Fortunately, McIlroy was one of five Europeans to win his point on Sunday, ensuring that they regained the cup lost so emphatically two years earlier at Whistling Straits.
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