Rory McIlroy has insisted that he hasn’t met Joe LaCava since their confrontation in the Saturday evening four-ball.
Reports had emerged on Sunday morning that McIlroy had met with the veteran caddie, who was said to have offered an apology but the Northern Irishman has insisted that this was not the case.
In fact, after his two and one victory over Sam Burns in the Sunday afternoon singles, McIlroy confirmed with a stony look on his face that ‘I have not met with Joe.’
Pressed on the issue, McIlroy made it very clear that he didn’t have anymore to say by repeating himself.
“I have not met with Joe,” he said on NBC Sports.
Hear Him Rory
Rory McIlroy insisted that he has not met with Joe LaCava and he used Saturday's incident to fuel him for Sunday. #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/6oMDfbIE7i
— Boston Dirt Dogs (@BostonDirtDogs) October 1, 2023
McIlroy was understandably emotional after recording his greatest performance in any Ryder Cup to date.
Despite losing that grudge game against Cantlay and Clark on Saturday night, the 34-year-old swept up every other point on offer, and ended his week taking four from a possible five.
He had spoken at the start of the week about achieving redemption for a Whistling Straits performance that, at the time, led to plenty of talk about his demise as a golfer.
McIlroy had been convincingly beaten in two fourballs and a foursomes back in 2021, and felt that he had let the team down. Padraig Harrington and his team-mates stuck by him in Wisconsin, however, giving him a vote of confidence by sending him out first in the singles against Xander Schaufelle.
The Down native justified their faith by winning 3 and 2 but Europe lost 19-9 and speaking to reporters afterwards, McIlroy was reduced to tears. It was the same again on Sunday afternoon in Rome, but these were tears of a different kind.
McIlroy hugged everyone in sight after his win over burns, before letting out a roar that sent the crowd wild. He then choked up in a Sky Sports interview, as he addressed his Ryder Cup redemption.
“It means an awful lot. I was so disappointed after Whistling straits, we all were,” he went onto say.
“I just knew that I needed to put in a better performance for my team-mates this week, and thankfully, I was able to do that.”
“I needed that to fuel me today, and not let it take away from what has been a great week. I used that to my advantage… it gave the whole team a bit more fuel in their belly.
“Even since Whistling Straits, it meant so much to me and the team to put things straight… to get four points this week, it means so much to me.”
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