McIlroy fuelled by rage, Lowry revels in the stress

Rory McIlroy was fired up on the final day of Ryder Cup action.

Mon, 02 Oct, 2023 - 07:25

Maurice Brosnan

Thirteen men sit facing the media but so many questions are directed towards Rory McIlroy that eventually Shane Lowry turns to his European team-mates and nods; we might as well head off and celebrate?

A 16½-11½ triumph secured the Ryder Cup for Europe on an occasionally nervy final day. McIlroy finished the week with four points and a car park confrontation. He was enraged on Saturday evening by Joe LaCava, Patrick Cantlay’s caddie, as he lined up a putt at the end of their match.

McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick were ultimately defeated by Cantlay and Wyndham Clark. The 34-year-old was later captured fuming in the carpark at Marco Simone golf course before Shane Lowry pulled him away.

“I was going to have to do all the work,” Lowry offered by way of explanation, before his friend thanked him for the intervention.

I was relieved,” said McIlroy. “He took me down to the cold plunge in the hotel and let me cool off there for a few minutes too.

“We talked about it as a team last night. We felt like it was disrespectful, and it wasn't just disrespectful to Fitz and I. It was disrespectful to the whole team.

“I get that we get the banter when we go over to the States and play, and you know, the same happens here. It is just the way it is. It's the way the Ryder Cup goes.”

McIlroy explained his issue was not with American caddie, Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay, who he was seen shouting at in the footage.

“He was the first American I saw after I got out of the locker room so he was the one that took the brunt of it. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I texted Bones this morning and apologized for that.”

He went on to defeat American Sam Burns 3&1.

“I was hot coming out of that yesterday. I was pretty angry. I didn't agree with what happened on 18, but I think I let it fuel the fire today and it focused me and I was able to go out there and get my point.”

Meanwhile, Lowry tied with Jordan Spieth in his singles match. An opening hole win had Spieth leading all the way until the 16th where Lowry flipped it to be up by one heading to the final tee box.

Simultaneously, Tommy Fleetwood tipped it in Europe’s favour with a stunning victory over Rickie. It meant there was no chance for final green heroics from the Irishman, not that he was too concerned.

“Myself, Tommy and Bob (MacIntyre) were in the locker room before we went out and we joked about hoping that it wasn't going to come down to our matches. I couldn't believe what we were seeing on the board, to be honest.

“Those last couple of hours were probably two of the most stressful hours on the golf course I've had. But I felt like I was playing good golf and Jordan obviously got up early on me. I gave him maybe one or two holes, but I didn't give much away. He played pretty good today and then I fought hard.

“I just fought hard all day and I knew I just needed to keep fighting hard for my team. And once I did that, I knew I would be okay.

“The scenes coming down 18, I knew Tommy had gone, I knew he was 1 up playing 16 and I saw Rickie hit it in the water on 16. I thought if I could birdie 17, I was going to have a putt to win the Ryder Cup. So selfishly I was thinking, I am going to have a putt to win the Ryder Cup. This is going to be amazing!

“Thankfully, Tommy did it before me. I was on the green on 17 and I hit my putt and I holed it somehow, I have no idea how, and then 18 was just I hit my drive. I didn't care where it went. Then I was walking down, right try and win my point, but it is like, whatever.

“I don't really care. I said at the start of the week here, I don't care if I make no points but as long as we win. That is not what matters to me. What matters to me is winning. I am very happy and very proud of the lads.”