Joe LaCava Was Out Of Order But He's Given The Ryder Cup An Edge It Needed

The 2023 Ryder Cup was thrust into controversy when Rory McIlroy and Joe LaCava came to blows at the close of play on Saturday at Marco Simone.

The Northern Irishman took exception to LaCava's lengthy celebrations on the final green after Patrick Cantlay holed a 43-footer for birdie and before McIlroy sized up his own effort to tie the match. 

LaCava, who used to caddie for Tiger Woods, took off his hat and waved it above his head in a mocking gesture after an earlier report claimed Cantlay was refusing to wear a team cap in protest because he believes players should be paid to play in the biennial contest. 

McIlroy was forced to ask LaCava to move out the way, which sparked a furious reaction as the veteran looper aimed an expletive-laden rant at the Northern Irishman.

The drama continued after McIlroy missed his putt, with Shane Lowry and Justin Rose getting involved at the back of the green before it spilled over into the car park. 

In a video that went viral, McIlroy could be seen shouting at LaCava, describing his actions as a "disgrace," before he was bundled into a Team Europe car by Lowry late on Saturday evening in Rome.

While it was an unsavoury scene and took some of the attention away from the day's play as the US fought back to trail 10.5-5.5, it finally gave this year's Ryder Cup the edge it had been missing amid the European domination.

The hosts swept the first session for the first time in the tournament's history and increased their lead to 6.5-1.5 at the end of day one. Europe then threatened to all but clinch the Ryder Cup a day early after winning the Saturday foursomes 3-1 before the US finally came to life in the fourball matches.

Sam Burns and Collin Morikawa led the way in the top game, beating the Scandinavian duo Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg 4&3, before Max Homa and Brian Harman combined in the second match to take down Tommy Fleetwood and Nicolai Hojgaard.

Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre stopped the bleeding for Europe against an out-of-sorts Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, before all eyes turned to the anchor match. McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick were 1-up with three to play but were outdone only by the brilliance of Cantlay.

Cantlay holed a 10-footer on 16 to avoid going dormie down and then birdied the treacherous par-3 17th to square the match heading to the last. A full point looked out of reach when he hit his third on the par-5 to more than 40 feet but he slammed it home to silence the hostile home crowd. 

"Obviously they had a great finish and you know, Patrick made three great putts at the end to seal the deal, so hats off to them," McIlroy said. "They played a great match, and yeah, I mean, a few scenes there on 18 and just fuel for the fire tomorrow."

Zach Johnson's side still have a mountain to climb to avoid losing the Ryder Cup, but at least the contest has finally come to life.