Rory McIlroy has to be held back by Shane Lowry in furious scenes

Rory McIlroy has to be held back and bundled into his car by Shane Lowry in furious scenes at the Ryder Cup… as he appears to scream ‘that is a f***ing disgrace’ at caddie Joe LaCava after sportsmanship row on the 18th green

  • Patrick Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava sparked heated scenes with his celebration
  • The tensions appeared to spill over into the car park following Day Two matches
  • DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news

Rory McIlroy launched into a livid rant while leaving Marco Simone following heated confrontation with Patrick Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, on the 18th green during his fourball defeat on Day Two of the Ryder Cup. 

The Northern Irishman and partner Matt Fitzpatrick were defeated on the 18th by Cantlay and Wyndham Clark Saturday as the USA won three of the afternoon session’s four matches. 

And tensions appeared to boil over into the car park as Europe’s talisman was seen on the broadcast furiously shouting and gesturing at someone while leaving the course. 

The 34-year-old was so irate that teammate Shane Lowry had to hold him back and bundle him into a car. 

It is unclear who McIlroy was furious with but he appeared to scream, ‘That is a f***ing disgrace,’ at someone out of shot. 

Rory McIlroy launched into a livid rant at someone while leaving Marco Simone Saturday 

The Northern Irishman reportedly argued with Patrick Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava on 18

Rival American caddie Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay, who is on the bag for Justin Thomas, can be seen in the shot but seemed to be attempting to help calm his opponent down. 

McIlroy’s wife, Erica Stoll, is also seen stood next to her husband waiting to get into the car.  

McIlroy’s outburst comes after a tense ending to the afternoon’s fourballs, which is speculated to be the root of his anger.

McIlroy and Fitzpatrick were defeated on the final hole of their matchup against Cantlay and Clark after the former sunk an unbelievable birdie which neither European could match. 

The monstrous 43-foot putt sparked mass celebrations from the entirety of Team USA, including the caddies and wives. 

The Americans all waved their caps from the edge of the green –  a nod to the hat controversy that has shrouded the Californian throughout the day. 

It had been reported that Cantlay was refusing to wear a cap in protest of players not being paid to play the Ryder Cup, which garnered a lot of mocking from the European fans who waved their caps at him, sang and chanted at him in jest. 

However, before McIlroy could address his attempt to tie the match, Cantlay’s caddie, LaCava, joined in on the move, wildly celebrating his player’s birdie in the four-time major winner’s line, which is a poor show of golfing etiquette. 

Lowry and Justin Rose took exception to the move and got into it with LaCava, who began caddying for Cantlay in May after 12 years on the bag for Tiger Woods, according to the broadcast. 

The Americans waved their caps – a nod to European fans’ taunting over the hat controversy

LaCava joined in on the celebrations but did so near McIlroy’s line before he putted 

McIlroy’s car park outburst comes after a tense exchange with LaCava on the final hole 

Members of Team Europe took exception to LaCava’s celebrations and lack of etiquette 

The Irishman could also be seen telling LaCava to calm down, while the bagman responds by telling him to ‘shut the f*** up.’

LaCava also wasted no time getting into McIlroy’s face, sparking a fiery exchange of words between the two, which the caddie continued even while the player began to line his putt up. However, it is unclear what was said. 

‘Rory McIlroy took issue with him waving the hat before he had to make his putt there, and then when he turned around Shane Lowry gave Joe a little bit of lip and Joe gave it right back to Shane,’ Steve Sands said on the broadcast.

‘This thing’s getting heated out here.’

McIlroy then narrowly missed his 20-foot attempt to tie the match on the low side before Fitzpatrick also failed to hole his 15-footer, handing the point to the US. 

Following the 18th-green altercation, McIlroy appeared to address the confrontation, claiming it would only spur on Europe in the Sunday singles. 

‘Matt and I played well. Obviously they had a great finish and Patrick made three great putts at the end to seal the deal, so hats off to them,’ said McIlroy, who had won his previous three matches in Rome.

‘They played a great match, and… a few scenes there on 18 and just fuel for the fire tomorrow.’

In his press conference, European captain Luke Donald confirmed the sportsmanship row had sparked the heated scenes. 

Shane Lowry could be seen exchanging word with the legendary caddie on the green  

On the broadcast, it was said McIlroy took issue with LaCava celebrating near his line 

‘Rory politely asked Joe to move aside,’ Donald said. ‘He was in his line. He stood there and didn’t move for a while and continued to wave his hat…So I think Rory was upset about that.’ 

McIlroy and Fitzpatrick had seen a vital point slip away as Cantlay rescued the Americans’ hope in the match, going birdie-birdie to finish and win the third clash of the afternoon for the US. 

Team USA had desperately needed a resurgence after Europe dominated the opening three sessions to storm into a 9.5-2.5 lead. 

However, Zach Johnson’s men in red, white and blue salvaged their dignity Saturday afternoon to win three of the four matches to claw the deficit to five points heading into Sunday’s showdown.  

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