Rory McIlroy Waited Until Sunday Night To Make Amends With Joe LaCava; Wanted To Use Spat As Motivation To Win Ryder Cup

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Joe LaCava got under the skin of Rory McIlroy so badly on the Saturday of last month's Ryder Cup that McIlroy had to be held back in the parking lot of Marco Simone. The four-time major winner was fuming in the moment, but after eventually cooling off, he turned that frustration into motivation for Sunday's action.

The incident between McIlroy and LaCava, who was caddying for American Patrick Cantlay, took place during Saturday afternoon's fourball session. Cantlay made a lengthy birdie putt and LaCava celebrated a bit too long and a bit too closely to McIlroy's line before he eventually missed his match-tying putt.

McIlroy and LaCava exchanged pleasantries on the green before tensions spilled over into the parking lot.

While in the moment it was a momentum builder for the Americans, McIlroy later explained it gave Europe "a fire in our bellies" to go out and get the job done during Sunday's singles.

On Sunday morning it was reported that McIlroy and LaCava had met up and made amends, but that turned out to be false. After beating Sam Burns in his single's match, McIlroy was asked about the report, and said “I haven’t met Joe.”

Rory McIlroy, Joe LaCava Squash Their Beef

Now, nearly a month after the dust-up, McIlroy has confirmed that LaCava came and had a drink with Team Europe on Sunday night and all appears to be forgiven.

"Things happen in the heat of the moment, tensions were high. Joe LaCava came into the European team room on the Sunday night and had a drink and a chat," McIlroy told BBC.

"I've had a great relationship with Joe over the years when he caddied for Tiger (Woods) and that wasn't going to change."

"For me, the incident happened, I purposely didn't want to meet anyone on the Sunday morning because I wanted what had happened to fuel me for that day. My whole focus was let's make sure Europe wins the Ryder Cup and then we will sort all the other stuff out afterwards.

"And it's all fine. We're all friends now."

It was probably a bit easier for McIlroy to shake hands with LaCava seeing as how Europe went on to win the Ryder Cup 16.5-11.5.

Follow Mark Harris on X @ItIsMarkHarris. You can also reach him via email at mark.harris@outkick.com

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.