Donald Says LaCava 'Overstepped The Mark' In Heated Ryder Cup Moment With McIlroy

Luke Donald says Patrick Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava “overstepped the mark” in a heated moment with Rory McIlroy at the Ryder Cup.

The incident happened during McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick’s Saturday afternoon fourball match against Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark. Cantlay’s caddie waved his cap towards McIlroy after Cantlay had holed a crucial putt. That celebration occurred as the 34-year-old was preparing for an important putt of his own.

In the end, McIlroy failed to hole his putt to halve the match, and, as well as confronting LaCava over his celebration, his frustration later boiled over in the Marco Simone car park, with another caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay, bearing the brunt of his displeasure.

That win for Cantlay and Clark gave the Americans a 3-1 win for the session and kept their hopes alive of retaining the trophy despite heading into the Sunday singles trailing the Europeans by 10.5 points to 5.5 points. It wasn’t to be, with the Europeans eventually easing to a 16.5 to 11.5 win.

In an interview with The Times, Donald has not only revealed he thinks LaCava went too far with his celebrations, but that Team Europe used the incident to help it get over the line the following day.

He said: “Rory was upset, quite rightfully, and these things happen at the Ryder Cup. It’s a passionate event. Joe overstepped the mark and tried to reach out after the fact and apologise but we just tried to use that as fuel for Sunday. I didn’t need to say much.”

The celebrations stemmed from a report earlier that day that Cantlay was leading a split in a “fractured” US Ryder Cup team, something he later dismissed as “complete lies” and “totally unfounded”. The reported split was supposedly over whether players should be paid for their appearances, with Cantlay apparently not wearing a cap as a means of “demonstrating his frustration” at not being paid.

Regardless of whether there was any truth in the report, though, Donald, doesn’t think there’s any place for payments at the Ryder Cup. He continued: “It’s one week where you play for more than yourself, not about money or points, it’s about coming together as a team and the fans feed off that - it’s all passion

 “I don’t think we should ever get paid. If you play well, you can get paid in other ways. Your brand will go up exponentially and certain people will have bonuses in their contracts, but if you want to keep the essence and history of the Ryder Cup, it needs to stay the same.”

Donald also addressed calls for him to retain the captaincy for the 2025 edition at Bethpage Black, but admitted he would need to discuss the possibility with his loved ones before making a decision. 

He said: “It was certainly very gratifying to hear the players shouting, ‘Two more years,’ afterwards and it would be an amazing challenge, but I still need to sit down with my family and decide because it’s a big ask.”