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LAST UPDATE | 30 Sep 2023
RORY MCILROY HAD to be restrained after getting involved a heated exchange following the second day’s play at the Ryder Cup in Rome.
The world number two was pushed into a car as Europe team-mate Shane Lowry attempted to defuse what appeared to be an argument outside the clubhouse.
Pictures of the confrontation emerged after a fiery conclusion to Saturday’s fourballs session in which McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick were beaten on the final green by American pair Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark.
Holy Shit!
— Nathan Murphy (@nathanmurf) September 30, 2023
IT IS ON!
pic.twitter.com/W8QXSak8wf
McIlroy apppeared to take exception at the time to the American team’s celebrations after Cantlay holed a lengthy putt.
Both McIlroy and Fitzpatrick still had putts remaining that could have tied the match.
Arguments reportedly ensued between McIlroy and Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava, with the watching Lowry also becoming involved. It is thought McIlroy may have been upset that LaCava stepped across the line of a European putt as he waved his cap in reference to Cantlay’s hatless appearance.
Reports had emerged during the day that Cantlay was not wearing a team hat in protest at not being paid to appear, something he later denied.
After the match McIlroy said the incident would merely add motivation to his desire to succeed on Sunday.
The Northern Irishman said: “Obviously they had a great finish and Patrick made three great putts at the end to seal the deal, so hats off to them.
“They played a great match, yes, a few scenes there on 18 and just fuel for the fire tomorrow.”
🚨MORE FOOTAGE: pic.twitter.com/CN6HGfnkdh
— Rory Tracker (@RoryTrackr) September 30, 2023
It appears the arguments resumed as the players left the course, however, with TV pictures showing McIlroy angrily pointing his finger at somebody out of shot.
Lowry then steps in to usher McIlroy towards a waiting car.
Cantlay was asked about what occurred beside the 18th green after the match but gave little information.
“He is the best,” he said of LaCava. “That is all there is to say.”
Europe will enter the final day leading 10.5-5.5.
The United States gave themselves a glimmer of hope of retaining the Ryder Cup as Patrick Cantlay holed a 30-foot putt on the final green on Saturday to reduce Europe’s lead to 10.5-5.5 ahead of the closing singles.
Cantlay and Wyndham Clark won the last two holes to beat Rory McIlroy and Matthew Fitzpatrick 1-up in the gathering gloom as the Americans grabbed the afternoon fourballs session 3-1.
But the visitors will still need the biggest Sunday comeback in Ryder Cup history to lift the trophy on European soil for the first time since 1993.
“It felt big, just trying to get any momentum we can going into tomorrow,” said Cantlay who competed without a cap, reportedly in a protest over players not being paid.
McIlroy and Fitzpatrick led 1-up with three holes to play and appeared set to secure a record seven-point advantage after two days for Europe when the Northern Irishman drove the 16th green.
But Cantlay made a crucial birdie, before making it three in succession with his monster effort on the 18th.
The majority of the US team were greenside and celebrated wildly as Cantlay roared in delight, evoking memories of Ian Poulter’s famous Saturday heroics before Europe’s comeback from 10-6 behind at the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ in 2012.
That was the last time either side won away from home.
Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre had earlier fought back to see off Justin Thomas and a struggling Jordan Spieth 3 and 2.
The European pair twice trailed one-down on the front nine but rallied as Spieth misfired badly, Thomas failing to shoulder the burden alone.
MacIntyre had missed a succession of putts over the weekend but made three clutch ones on the back nine.
Rose finished off the job on 16, draining a 19-foot effort for birdie.
Collin Morikawa and Sam Burns gave the USA the shot in the arm they needed in the opening match by racing into a 6-up lead with six to play against Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg.
The Scandinavian duo had thrashed Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka by a foursomes record 9 and 7 in the morning.
But they could not hold off their American opponents who closed out a 4 and 3 success.
Max Homa and Brian Harman won the USA’s first full point earlier Saturday and backed it up with a 2 and 1 win over Tommy Fleetwood and Nicolai Hojgaard in the second match.
Written by AFP and posted on the42.ie
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As much as I respect the English vote to leave the EU it’s hard to watch them marching towards self harm.
It’s not just self harm. If there’s a hard Brexit, Ireland is going to be seriously damaged. We need fight with them for a soft Brexit with relaxed borders
Back to school for you it wasn’t the English that voted but the British including the Shots,Welsh and the Northern Irish after living in the Republic for over thirty years I am never surprised by the geography of some people in Ireland
Always wanted to go Shotland myself.
I hate the Shots, they ruined Shotland!
@Peter Murphy:
The Scots voted for Brexit did they Peter? What was the outcome in Scotland again?
Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain. Funny, Britain had a major problem with geography as well, mainly relating to borders and sovereignty.
Peter I assume by your defensiveness that you are English and if you are you’re hardly in a position to be criticizing others on their geography. After all the English were so confused about geography at one stage that they though we were part of England. Some might say some of their confusion persists to this day.
Huh?
The English votes were the ones that made the difference.
Just go and ask any British individual about British geography and then you may critise the Irish knowledge.
Nearly 4 in 10 Scots voted against the EU, Fred. Just as almost half of English voters sided with Remain. Suddenly doesn’t look so wonderfully unambiguous, does it?
Were they, Desmodromic? You do realise that if every Scottish voter had voted Remain it would hve completely tilted the balance in favour of Remain, right? Clan Sturgeon hate being reminded of this.
tweets. It has to be a hard brexit. The brits don’t want poles crossing the border in great numbers. The EU don’t want brits crossing the border into our EU. so be it.
@Harry Whitehead:
63% remain Harry. Come on now, you’re a big fan of democracy, even you must admit that is a clearcut result and at odds with the English.
North of Ireland is not British it’s Irish perhaps you should check your geography!!!!
I love all this dramatic theatrics and raised expectations from the Brits about “negotiations”.
In order to negotiate, the British need a card to play. I would love to know what card they think they have to play. The EU have a market of 450 million. The British have 65 million. 45% of British exports go to the EU. Less than 10% of EU exports go to the UK. If they have to go to WTO rules on trade, the EU would do just fine. Sales of BMWs to the UK might dip slightly, but not much else. Meanwhile, the UK economy is utterly devastated as much of their industry relies on the EU wide market.
This is going to be hilarious. It might not take 10 years to “negotiate”, it might take 10 days. But the Brits won’t like the outcome.
@Fred Johnson:
“The EU have a market of 450 million. The British have 65 million”
You sure?
@Congress Tart:
Yes, i’m sure. Why don’t you STFU unless you’ve something constructive to say or add.
@Fred Johnson:
EU exports for 2013 were 2.188 TRILLION, you absolute goober.
http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/eu-position-in-world-trade/
“The EU have a market of 450 million.” lol – market of what? Clueless.
@Fred Johnson: your figures are literally 4,844 times off. What a goof.
I think Fred’s numbers relate to the number of citizens in the European Union (450 million excluding the UK which has a population of 65million). So I think Fred is pretty much spot on!
Tricia – Fred constantly spouts these disingenuous figures, but ask him to put the financial values of the respective markets down and you will see a very different picture. The trade deficit between Britain and the EU is vastly in the EU’s favour, especially for Germany and France. The current deficit listed below is over €100,000,000,000.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/apr2016
@Tricia Nolan: the population numbers are almost irrelevant, since not all countries are financially equal. It’s about trade numbers – not population.
India has over 1 billion people, but most live in poverty so that number is not an advantage when it comes to trade & economy. Fred just spat out numbers that are meaningless to this topic.
Tricia, quoting population sizes for market shares is about as disingenuous as quoting a country’s land area. By that logic, I could say “Indonesia has a market of 260 million, Japan has a market of 130 million” – sounds a lot more impressive, doesn’t it?
@Harry Whitehead:
Ok how about this one harry, the EU (excluding the UK) has a GDP five times larger than the UK.
Does that scale work sufficiently well for you?
Fred – oh dear, but you overlook the most important issue in the negotiation, the deficit ad it is over €100,000,000,000 per annum. You really think the utter financial basket case that is the EU is going to turn their back in this in addition to the €10,000,000,000 contribution the UK will no longer pay.
Should’ve gone for Kevin Spacey or Samuel L Jackson… This is becoming more of a circus than Hollywood so would probably be fitting if they chose one based on the movie! GREAT Britain is really losing its image as a together sort of place, even the ‘leave’ side are starting to turn on the ‘leave’ side! What a mess! Even Bozzo is doing his best to disappear for a while it seems. They said start negotiations by the end of March, but did they say a year… May be a crucial detail they can fall back on to save embarrassment, Ahem, further embarrassment!
Out of sheer curiosity, can he speak any French?
Backstabbing infighting typical Tories, and the likes of I.D.S, what a mess well done Dave Cameron.
Boris the blade has resigned!!!
Let’s hope this guy has the sense to keep his thoughts to himself and just say what he’s told to say
Eh. The judges will decide that! Mrs may!
may’s problem is that all the smart people in her party are “remain” people.
have your say