One of the moments the 2023 Ryder Cup is going to be remembered for was the incident on the 18th green on Saturday evening in the final stages of the match involving Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay.
Europe had been utterly dominant for the first three sessions at the 2023 Ryder Cup. Luke Donald‘s side appeared to have one hand on the trophy when reports emerged concerning the reason Patrick Cantlay was not wearing a cap.
It had been claimed that Cantlay was going without headwear due to USA’s players not being paid to play in the event. Unsurprisingly, when European fans caught wind of the rumours, the fairways were suddenly lined with scores of people waving their hats in the air whenever Cantlay was nearby.
The incident had the potential to backfire. Cantlay showed everyone why he has the nickname Patty Ice and stepped up in his match against Rory McIlroy and Matthew Fitzpatrick. And when Cantlay made a long birdie putt on 18 to put USA on the brink of winning another point, the US team back in the fairway reacted by waving their caps wildly.
How the European players reacted to incident involving Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay at the 2023 Ryder Cup
Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava joined in the celebrations, but his antics annoyed McIlroy who still had a chance to halve the match. It led to some heated scenes on the 18th green, as well as in the car park later, ahead of the final day of the matches.
It appeared to have the potential to inspire the USA to make a comeback which would have been even more impressive than Brookline. But as revealed in Una Famiglia, the Europeans were determined to not let the visitors have the last laugh.
“There was some mumblings that Patrick wasn’t wearing a hat because it was a silent protest for the Americans not getting paid to play. I’ll never forget walking down the 16th hole and there are 20,000 people waving hats in the air. It was an amazing moment,” McIlroy said.
“Patrick held his putt. They all starting waving their hats which is fine and funny and whatever. But Patrick’s caddie Joe just stood there a little bit longer than he should have. I was trying to read my putt and he was in the way, and I asked him to move and he didn’t take too kindly to that.”
“We went into the locker room that evening like, ‘there’s no way these are beating us tomorrow. They just can’t. We can’t let this happen’,” Shane Lowry added.
How the Sunday singles played out as USA gave themselves a lifeline
The point for Cantlay and Wyndham Clark meant that the score was 10.5-5.5 in Europe’s favour heading into Sunday. But USA had won a session for the first time on Saturday afternoon, so they at least had a little momentum.
And they arguably gave Europe a much bigger scare than the 16.5-11.5 scoreline suggests. It was Tommy Fleetwood in the penultimate match who ensured that Luke Donald’s side would get across the line.
Cantlay would play his part by beating Justin Rose 2&1 in the third match out. Meanwhile, Sam Burns would be the unlucky player tasked with facing a fired up McIlroy. The Northern Irishman eventually won 3&1.
It will certainly be remembered as one of the great moments in Ryder Cup history. Fans love to see what the event means to the players – particularly while there has been no financial reward for playing.
And while things clearly crossed the line at Marco Simone, it perfectly set the stage for the Sunday singles.
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