Rory McIlroy also ‘went at’ Brooks Koepka’s caddie, Ricky Elliot, after Ryder Cup car-park bust up, claims Fred Couples

• Patrick Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava sparked heated scenes with his celebration
•  Furious Rory McIlroy ranted at Jim MacKay in the Marco Simone car park after
• DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news

Rory McIlroy reportedly ranted at not one, but three Team USA caddies as his fury on Day Two of the Ryder Cup refused to cool down even after the Northern Irishman returned to the team hotel.

Team Europe’s talisman lost his cool on the car park at Marco Simone following Saturday’s fourball session, when he was seen furiously screaming at another US caddie, Jim ‘Bones’ MacKay before being bundled into a BMW 4×4 by teammate Shane Lowry. 

McIlroy’s outburst came after he was left raging when LaCava, Cantlay’s caddie, stood in his line of vision twirling his cap as he attempted to line up what would have been a match-saving putt on the 18th. 

The 34-year-old’s frustration was directed at MacKay as he claimed Justin Thomas’s bagman was ‘just the first American I saw after I got out of the locker room,’

McIlroy admitted that Tiger Woods’s caddie had been in the ‘wrong place at the wrong time’ and he texted him the morning after to apologize. 

Rory McIlroy’s car park fury at the Ryder Cup reportedly continued at the team hotel  

McIlroy had argued with LaCava on Saturday after he took off his cap and waved it to celebrate

McIlroy also let rip at Ricky Elliot, an Irishman who loops for Brooks Koepka

However, it seems Bones wasn’t the only American caddie to get an earful from the European leader as he also let rip at Ricky Elliot, an Irishman who loops for Brooks Koepka, according to Team USA vice captain, Fred Couples. 

‘He was yelling at Bones,’ Couples said, via Golf.com, ‘which is disrespectful with his wife standing a foot from him saying words that shouldn’t be said. Now, I’m on Rory’s side too — because I love Rory McIlroy to death — but when you’re incensed and you want to fight, you’re going to say things. Is that disrespectful?’

Couples added that Elliott told him that McIlroy ‘went at me in the middle of the foyer at the hotel.’

Fans at a raucous Marco Simone had spent the round taunting Cantlay by waving their hats in the air after an earlier report claimed he was not wearing a cap as a form of protest against not being paid for competing in the tournament – something he has adamantly denied, suggesting it was instead because he wanted to avoid tan lines ahead of his wedding Monday. 

When Cantlay sank a stunning 30-footer to put the US on the brink of winning his match with Wyndham Clark against McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick he responded by mimicking taking off a hat – while bag man LaCava joyously twirled his in McIlroy’s line of vision.

‘I asked him what was said,’ Couples said on his radio show. ‘He said Rory looked at him and said, ‘Mooove.’ And he made the ooo last a little longer.

‘And Joe replied, ‘Relax, Rory.’

LaCava also exchanged heated words with Lowry, who was greenside. 

Couples was among the members of the US team, including Thomas, Jordan Spieht, Max Homa and Collin Morikawa, who waved their caps from the side of the green to celebrate Cantlay’s putt – all while LaCava’s spat with McIlroy ensued. 

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

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 

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

But the US assistant captain insisted he didn’t see anything disrespectful with their celebrations. 

‘I want someone to tell me where anything that happened is disrespectful,’ Couples said. ‘I didn’t see it. Patrick screamed, which he doesn’t do very often and he tipped his fake cap. We all were on the front of the green. No one moved. We just took our hats off and made little circles with our hats.

‘It’s the last match of the day. We’re getting absolutely hammered. Now, we got a chance to get a halve. But what, did someone do a Justin Leonard, ran across the green? Patrick didn’t.’

He added: ‘Rory, God bless, Rory, ’cause when he makes a putt in the Ryder Cup, he screams and yells ‘vamos’ and ‘let’s go’ and all that. That’s what you should do. Joe LaCava was standing [on the green]. I don’t think he moved two feet.’

In footage of the incident, LaCava can in fact be seen moving more than two feet coming within five or six feet of McIlroy’s ball, while the European was assessing his putt. 

‘People think he shushed Rory when he did that hand gesture,’ Couples continued. ‘Little Harry Diamond, who we all love, too, caddies for Rory, then he chimed in. So Joe said, “I don’t have time for you.”

‘Then Joe turned to get out of the way. And…Shane Lowry and [European assistant captain] Thomas Bjorn were screaming some things at him, which is fine. I don’t have any problem with Shane Lowry or Thomas Bjorn — they’re protecting the number one player on their team. But no one did anything wrong. [LaCava] didn’t bump into [McIlroy]. He didn’t stand over him. It wouldn’t be a 15-yard penalty in college football for taunting. … He said he was 6 feet from him. Was Joe right? Probably not. [But] did anyone disrespect the European team?’

Couples then said  as he made a hasty exit from the 18th green he bumped into Lowry and Europe’s assistant captain Thomas Bjorn. 

‘Shane Lowry and Thomas Bjorn both put their hands on my shoulder and said, “That’s bulls**t. That’s so wrong. What just happened?”

Couples said as he exited the 18th green he bumped into Lowry and Thomas Bjorn (L)

‘I said, “Look, you guys, I’m not here to argue about it. We won a point. I didn’t see anything horrible.”

‘And then [Lowry] said, “Well, I was at Whistling Straits,”‘ referring to the 2021 US Ryder Cup course, where the Americans clobbered the Europeans by 10 points.

‘As I kept walking,’ Couples said, ‘I just looked back and said, “What does that have to do with anything?”‘

After the Europeans sealed a 16.5-11.5 win Sunday following a tense singles showdown, McIlroy addressed the previous day’s bust-up. 

‘We felt like it was disrespectful. And it wasn’t just disrespectful to Fitz and I. It was disrespectful for the whole team.’ 

He added: ‘I get that we get the banter when we go over to the States and play and the same happens here. It’s just the way it is. It’s the way the Ryder Cup goes. And you have to have thick skin. That’s just the way it is.’

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